// somebody told me that there's two sides to this life //
A sodden, broken leather ball poked up from a melting snow drift by a wall. Kindling a touch of magic fire to that it out, it was hard to keep herself from reacting. To simply listen, and consider his side of the situation. It was true what he said. Of course nothing would ever be perfect. It was also undoubtedly true that she was in the minority here, one against a tide of individuals who couldn't care less about how criminals were treated or where a cannibal got his dinner twice a season. No doubt she was the unreasonable one in their eyes, the odd one out, faithless in her lack of trust that anything Dygra's children did could ever be anything but perfect and valid and alright.
But did that mean that she didn't matter? That her voice shouldn't be listened to?
Her silence was rewarded with a concession. Or the consideration of one, at any rate. A promise to at least listen. If it hurt that he found her ridiculous, Maea swallowed the pain and buried it in her chest along with the rest; this wasn't the time, or the place.
Drawing a deep breath, her gaze returned to the sky. Blue, vast, nearly free from clouds. It reminded her of Halo, the way the sun glistened and gleamed on moldering snow... And an idea came to her, that at least didn't seem completely unreasonable.
"Halo..." she murmured, still formulating her thoughts as she began, "they exile their criminals. That's not a kindness; the climate makes it a punishment that might be as bad, or worse, than death." Leaning down to pick up the broken ball, she tossed it on Asta's pyre. It felt like a sacrifice - her childish notions of peace and prosperity against his burning need for complete freedom - and faced the tall man again. "What if we did the same here? What if the Inner Quarter - preferably all of the Hollowed Grounds, but I could settle for the Inner Quarter - was designated as a haven for those who, like me, find no pleasure in the things that you and others do? We are building that portal to the Climb. It wouldn't be difficult to send rule-breakers there, away from this place. And whatever happened on the other side of the fire... I would have nothing to say about that."
The Wilds was a no-man's-land, Dygra's own playground, and for all that Maea still couldn't accept cannibalism on a general principle, she also recognized that what happened outside the habitable regions was out of her control. "The Dusklight has separate rooms for different types of activities. Am I asking too much, if I wish that we separate where we live and hunt, too? "
It was a general idea, a suggestion, a plea; she hoped he could at least consider it. That it wouldn't be too much of an imposition when the Climb would be a simple step away - well out of sight, out of mind, where he could do whatever he wanted without hiding or being mindful of anyone else. Just like she wouldn't have to turn her eyes away and pretend not to see or notice within the Grounds.
But did that mean that she didn't matter? That her voice shouldn't be listened to?
Her silence was rewarded with a concession. Or the consideration of one, at any rate. A promise to at least listen. If it hurt that he found her ridiculous, Maea swallowed the pain and buried it in her chest along with the rest; this wasn't the time, or the place.
Drawing a deep breath, her gaze returned to the sky. Blue, vast, nearly free from clouds. It reminded her of Halo, the way the sun glistened and gleamed on moldering snow... And an idea came to her, that at least didn't seem completely unreasonable.
"Halo..." she murmured, still formulating her thoughts as she began, "they exile their criminals. That's not a kindness; the climate makes it a punishment that might be as bad, or worse, than death." Leaning down to pick up the broken ball, she tossed it on Asta's pyre. It felt like a sacrifice - her childish notions of peace and prosperity against his burning need for complete freedom - and faced the tall man again. "What if we did the same here? What if the Inner Quarter - preferably all of the Hollowed Grounds, but I could settle for the Inner Quarter - was designated as a haven for those who, like me, find no pleasure in the things that you and others do? We are building that portal to the Climb. It wouldn't be difficult to send rule-breakers there, away from this place. And whatever happened on the other side of the fire... I would have nothing to say about that."
The Wilds was a no-man's-land, Dygra's own playground, and for all that Maea still couldn't accept cannibalism on a general principle, she also recognized that what happened outside the habitable regions was out of her control. "The Dusklight has separate rooms for different types of activities. Am I asking too much, if I wish that we separate where we live and hunt, too? "
It was a general idea, a suggestion, a plea; she hoped he could at least consider it. That it wouldn't be too much of an imposition when the Climb would be a simple step away - well out of sight, out of mind, where he could do whatever he wanted without hiding or being mindful of anyone else. Just like she wouldn't have to turn her eyes away and pretend not to see or notice within the Grounds.
Maea
// I think I might've chosen darkness over light //
