in tenebris est veritas.
The past, the divine, the civilizations that honor them-- these are not things that occupy Chaele’s thoughts very often, and when they do they are usually accompanied by disdain. But if this chance meeting between the Hale Ka’aila’s destroyer and its protector has proven anything, it is how two very different people can share their worldviews with curiosity and respect. As her legs toss rising bubbles in their slow path toward shore, the shaman contemplates the horizon and the water below it. “The ocean contains all of those things, as well as the lives and forces that sustain them. Does it not deserve your duty?”
In both an explanation and an answer, she continues, “Balance is a thing that is harnessed by the world’s natural places. Its oceans, its mountains, its forests and rivers. Some things eat other things, or shelter them, or compete with them. Life begets life, death becomes soil, strife befalls all. It is my duty to maintain that balance. I promise it to the land, by which I mean all of nature. I sustain it, despite the world’s complacencies. I defend it from that which would encroach on it.” She pauses in her progress, spitting up some salt water as a lulling wave catches her off guard. Her eyes are inflamed somewhat with their exposure to the ocean and she blinks a little as she tries to get a better look at Hadama’s expression, despite his continued stoicism. “At least, in what ways I can.”
In both an explanation and an answer, she continues, “Balance is a thing that is harnessed by the world’s natural places. Its oceans, its mountains, its forests and rivers. Some things eat other things, or shelter them, or compete with them. Life begets life, death becomes soil, strife befalls all. It is my duty to maintain that balance. I promise it to the land, by which I mean all of nature. I sustain it, despite the world’s complacencies. I defend it from that which would encroach on it.” She pauses in her progress, spitting up some salt water as a lulling wave catches her off guard. Her eyes are inflamed somewhat with their exposure to the ocean and she blinks a little as she tries to get a better look at Hadama’s expression, despite his continued stoicism. “At least, in what ways I can.”
