Court of the Fallen
{se} a variety of views - Printable Version

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{se} a variety of views - Juniper - 08-04-2021

Wandering Caido to clear her head wasn't going as well as Juniper had hoped, thanks solely to the presence of the vampire gourds. Every time she set down for a moment's respite from her flight, no matter how peaceful the spot had been before, they seemed to come crawling out of the woodwork at the sight of her.

Everything in Caido -- except the New Gods and the Ascended -- was the gods' creation, but by now, Juniper was starting to ask herself why the gods had seen fit to create these little nuisances. What purpose did they serve? She didn't even want to fight them; it seemed like it'd be a waste of arrows.

Perhaps they existed purely to keep anyone from getting too comfortable. She sighed as she fluttered five feet off the ground, watching a group of them try to jump up and bite her ankles.


RE: {se} a variety of views - Nate - 08-09-2021

Nate wasn’t looking for peace, not really. He’d been wandering along the coastline, searching for the spot Sunjata had marked out for their future home, and that alone brought with it an assured peace. This was real, they were moving on.

Even in paradise through, there seemed to be problems, problems in the form of temperamental gourds that dogged his steps, biding their time until there was enough of them actually launch an assault. Nate tried to ignore them, a cigarette dangling between his lips while he walks along the coast, Pemota hovering over his shoulder.

It’s only when he turns away from the sea that things take a turn for the worse, his group of pumpkins rushing ahead of him to bolster the ones lurking beneath Juniper. The gourds seemed to consider a moment, giving Nate the chance to stare blankly up at Juniper before they ultimately decided on the earlier, land based target.

At their most tenacious, the vampire gourds are still mere vegetables, no match for the crackling arms that spring into existence and bounce them around, leaving Nate free the split his attention between the pumpkins and the fey. He knows her, sure, could probably even summon a name if you gave him enough time, but it doesn’t stop the mistrust, the paranoia.


RE: {se} a variety of views - Juniper - 08-10-2021

Nate arrived just when Juniper was about to fly off, and her good-humored greeting died on her lips as she recognized him -- and as she recognized the mistrust on his face. At first her instinct was to put herself higher in the air, out of reach, but she forced herself to stand her ground -- or, rather, her patch of air. She didn't want to show fear.

Instead she said, [say]"Well, hello. Fancy meeting you here."[/say] The attempt at levity was strained, but it was still an attempt.

Juniper knew very well that Nate was Ascended and that this encounter might go badly, but she had no intention of striking first at any Ascended, let alone Sunjata's husband. It was her nature to offer olive branches rather than arrows. Besides, the ease with which those extra arms ripped apart the gourds suggested she might be just a little bit outmatched here.

[say]"I don't intend to attack you,"[/say] Juniper added, spreading her empty hands in a gesture of peace, though she did wear her hunting knife, dagger, and bow and quiver. But she made no move to reach for them. [say]"I'll defend myself if I have to, but I don't want a fight today."[/say]


RE: {se} a variety of views - Nate - 08-21-2021

Fancy indeed. There's a brief moment where Nate considers not answering, just taking care of the pumpkins and leaving again. After all, there's no appearance he needs to keep up, not anymore. But... there is a part of him that's a masochist, a part that just loves to be outraged, and what better way to stoke that feeling than by spending a few words with an enemy? So he nods his head in silent greeting, focusing solely on the grounds until her reassurance.

"[say]Well you'll forgive me if I'm a little hesitant still, but...[/say]" Nate shrugs, and gestures aggressively at his face, at the pale scar that bisects pretty features. "[say]It's nothing personal. I just... don't trust anyone who throws themselves behind the Old Gods anymore.[/say]" With a single, obvious exception.

Though he's not really looking for a fight either, not with her at least, a fact made obvious by the way his staticky simulacrum of arms fizzle away, the last few gourds taken care of with a few swift kicks. Nate's face twists in obvious upset as he examines the vegetal gore left behind on his boots and shakes his foot, trying to dislodge it.


RE: {se} a variety of views - Juniper - 08-22-2021

[say]"I understand your wariness,"[/say] Juniper said, sadly. She didn't want to live in a world where one's religion made so many enemies, but that was Caido at the moment -- and she couldn't help but admit that her own gods had made no effort to keep the peace. Rather the opposite, in fact. [say]"Remember, Fae cannot lie."[/say]

Which was why she had chosen her words so carefully -- "I have no intention of attacking you" instead of "I will not attack you." But, as she had told Nate, she didn't want to get into a fight. Overall, she suspected that she had more to fear from Nate than he had from her -- but she didn't want to point that out to him. If the idea of hurting her hadn't occurred to him, she wasn't about to put it in his head. She still hovered at Nate's eye level, but out of arm's reach.

[say]"Sunjata told me that a Fae attacked you,"[/say] Juniper added, nodding at his scar. [say]"I promised to help find her if I could."[/say]


RE: {se} a variety of views - Nate - 08-26-2021

"[SAY]No,[/say]" Nate interrupts, his tone dry and his expression even more so, "[say]I don't think you do. I don't think you can.[/say]" Despite how carefully he schools his face and words, he can't completely erase the tightness around his eyes, the deep exhaustion that grips him. The fact that the Fae cannot li is actually news to him, the flash of surprise showing on his face before he files the information away.

With no small amount of graceless indifference Nate flops to the ground, sitting with his arms propped up on his knees, and stares unblinking up at the Fae, trying to work her out like a puzzle. "[say]Why?[/say]" There's no heat in his tone, nothing to betray any kind of hostility at all, just a simple curiosity. "[say]Would you let her be tried? Executed, if it came to it?[/say]" He works his jaw, Pemota sinking once again to settle around his shoulders, relieving some of the tension in his posture.


RE: {se} a variety of views - Juniper - 08-31-2021

Juniper doesn't try to counter Nate's rejection. If he says she doesn't understand, then she won't argue with him -- and it's probably true. After all, there aren't entire Orders out there dedicated to the Fae's extinction. Instead she says, [say]"I would like to, though."[/say]

Slowly, she lowers herself to the ground, though she doesn't sit, not just yet. It takes her a moment to answer Nate's question; she has to think about how to word her response to make sure it's true. [say]"I would hope that she wouldn't be executed for such a crime, but I would see her tried and punished. I asked Sunjata -- and the rest of Caido -- to place the Ascended who attacked the Fae on trial; I could do no less for a Fae who attacked the Ascended. At the time, I hoped that we could come to an understanding that would allow us to begin putting past conflict behind us. I wanted to live in a world where hurting someone has consequences, no matter who it is."[/say]

But that wasn't the world they were about to face. At the time, Juniper had said, because she knew that wasn't going to happen now, not as Caido descended into war.


RE: {se} a variety of views - Nate - 09-05-2021

Of anything she could have said, Juniper manages to land on one of the few things that surprises Nate, that has his shoulders lowering a touch more. It’s all that keeps him shifting away from her when she lands, his hands kept flat to the ground as casually as he can manage. It’s at least more of an effort to be non threatening than he’d offered before.

He offered her another courtesy in the moment he takes to think about his words instead of snapping back reflexively. “[say]Would the intent have mattered? If a trial did happen.[/say]” It’s a hypothetical question, for a hypothetical scenario. He is not going to get justice. Though neither will the slain fey, except maybe in the eradication of the ascended completely. His face twists, and his eyes drop from the fey to the distance over her shoulder, a furrow pinching between his brows.

“[say]Its a nice idea.[/say]” There’s something admiring in his tone, mixed in with something deeply bitter and upset. “[say]Maybe if the God’s didn't stick their hands in all the time, huh?[/say]”


RE: {se} a variety of views - Juniper - 09-08-2021

She'd convinced Nate to at least listen, for now. Juniper would count that as a victory. In times like these, even a standoff was preferable to outright battle.

[say]"The intent of the attackers? Most legal systems take into account extenuating circumstances ... But I don't think that Fae's attack on you was justified. Nor, frankly, can I imagine any true justification for the Ascended's attack on us."[/say] Juniper knew that the Voice had told the Ascended to attack the Fae, but she didn't consider "a god told me to" a good reason for such an unprovoked attack. Though, of course, "a god told me to" was a common reason to attack the Ascended as well. Quietly, Juniper added, [say]"The last thing I wanted to see was war."[/say]

Nate's last comment made her chuckle wryly. [say]"Without wishing to blaspheme ..."[/say] She bit her lip, suddenly very serious as she considered the theological matter. [say]"The gods seem quite eager for a war that they won't have to die in."[/say]


RE: {se} a variety of views - Nate - 09-12-2021

Nate frowns, not surprised that Juniper hadn't picked up on his train of thought, but still irritated by having to explain himself. "[say]I've been told the Ascended attack on the Fae wasn't meant as an attack. They were trying to open a portal, to open the world up a little more to everyone.[/say]" Even if it wasn't true (though it's clear from his tone that Nate believes it) it's a nicer lie than anything that could be said about the attack on him.

"[say]I think the Gods would be eager for this war even if it would kill them.[/say]" Nate huffs, looking away and ripping up a handful of grass, just to watch the limp blades be picked out of his hand by the wind. "[say]They hate us.[/say]" He turns, looking over at Juniper with an intensity in his unblinking eyes, a deep furrow sitting between his brows, twisting the scar across his face. "[say]Can you imagine looking in a God's face, and seeing nothing but hate? Just for existing. The only one who should hate me is Safrin, and yet,[/say]" Throwing his arms about wide, Nate barks out a bitter huff of laughter.


RE: {se} a variety of views - Juniper - 09-15-2021

Juniper's eyes flash at Nate's description of the attack on the Fae, but she forces herself not to voice the spark of anger his words kindle in her chest, and after a moment it dies down enough for her to speak calmly. [say]"To open that portal, they destroyed the Mathair -- our goddess -- and killed her guards. Even if those deaths, that destruction, was only a means to an end ... You, or rather the Ascended there"[/say] -- she knew Nate had not been among the Fae's attackers, and had no idea whether he'd even been Ascended at the time -- [say]"may not have conceived of yourself as invaders, but that was what they became when they refused to respect the Fae's sovereignty over our home."[/say]

But Nate's next words brought Juniper back to sympathy. She shook her head. [say]"No. I can't imagine what that's like."[/say]

She could have said that Nate had brought it on himself, by choosing to become Ascended, but she knew that people had their reasons -- and she didn't believe that they deserved to die for such a choice. But here she was, on the precipice of a war of extermination regardless.

[say]"I don't believe the Old Gods' persecution of the Ascended is justified,"[/say] Juniper said, very quietly, almost hoping that Nate wouldn't hear her. [say]"But my loyalty lies with my home and my people."[/say]


RE: {se} a variety of views - Nate - 09-20-2021

Nate sucks in a deep, indignant breath; about to argue the point, about to split hairs and get ugly; and then stops, silence stretching out. He works his jaw closed again slowly, forcing himself to think about the words that are about to come out of his mouth. “[say]I’m sorry.[/say]” The words croak out of him quietly, Nate’s gaze falling to the ground between them. “[say]I can’t speak to the motivations or feelings of... those there, or the Voice really, but... I wouldn’t say I agreed with what happened.[/say]”

Something in him cringes away from the sympathy in Junipers voice, Nate’s fingers closing around a handful of dry grass. “[say]You can’t.[/say]” The echo is quiet, emotionless. A statement of fact. “[say]The Voice doesn’t hate you.[/say]” Disinterest wasn’t the same thing as hatred, and Nate had never heard of anyone suffering seeking out the Vice as the old gods had made them suffer.

It would be easy to pretend he didn’t hear the quiet words. Easy to ignore them. “[say]You understand your loyalty means supporting the death of every ascended?[/say] The words aren’t pointed, aren’t even angry. There’s nothing but a distant exhaustion in Nate’s voice, his unblinking eyes focusing back on the fae.


RE: {se} a variety of views - Juniper - 09-24-2021

[say]"That's been the sentiment of most of the Ascended I've spoken to,"[/say] said Juniper. Her lips twisted in a wry smile. [say]"No one agrees with what happens, everyone regrets it, but it still happened. Families still grieve, and we still have to reckon with the consequences."[/say]

She wasn't blaming Nate personally, but she still couldn't absolve the Ascended.

Then she turned solemn. [say]"I know."[/say] She could have said more: I don't see why the Old Gods hate her so much. My gods are wrong. We've become the aggressor here, and I hate it. But she couldn't admit as much out loud, not to Nate.

But she had to answer his question. [say]"I know,"[/say] she repeated softly, sadly. She wanted to say that she hoped it wouldn't come to that, that she would stop it if she could. But those seemed like lame excuses in the face of the actual conflict. How could Juniper hope to stand against her own people, her own gods?

[say]"What else would you have me do?"[/say] she asked quietly: not a defensive demand, but a genuine question. [say]"I could disappear into the Wilds, I suppose, and refuse to participate, but that means giving up any chance to make things better."[/say]


RE: {se} a variety of views - Nate - 09-29-2021

A deep sigh heaves out of Nate, the answer and the repetition slumping his shoulders even further. He’d hoped being proven right would ease some of the weight, but it’s only made it worse. “[say]I don’t know what to tell you to do.[/say]” He says, a helpless shrug rolling across his shoulders.

The corners of his lips twist up into something that is decidedly not a grin, no matter how hard he tries. “[say]What are you going to do to change the minds of gods?[/say]” There is something accusatory in his tone, his brows pinching together as he speaks, twisting the scar slashed across his features.

“[say]What happens when we’re all dead? Will they go after the abandoned next? Will you stand against them then?[/say]” The whisper is stripped away in pieces until Nate’s voice is loud, his fingers digging into the ground. “[say]Who comes after that? The people who step out of line? The people who don’t believe in them right?[/say]”