KORBIN
It's so nice to meet you
Let's never meet again
Let's never meet again
Well, that didn't go the way he had wanted. Being a ball plank to vent against was one thing, offering up pieces of himself - even more than before - was another. Korbin struggled with mounting irritation at the guys reticense... until he realized that he indeed was as much a stranger to Amun as the man was to him.
In a peculiar way, they were as much equals as they could get. Aside from the whole Attuned versus Ascended thing. And age. And a whole array of other things that... well, set them apart. He sighed, trapped by his own logic. They didn't have to be similar to be equals, after all.
For a time, the young man closed his eyes, shut out the light. Considered, weighed options and risks. In the end... he decided that it didn't matter if Amun knew things about him. It couldn't hurt him; the opinions of this guy meant nothing.
"I guess... fear," he said slowly, and this time his voice was rough from more than just lack of use. "I've lost my family, one by one, since I was eight years old. As soon as I think I understand how the world works, something else is taken. Someone else. Now, I only have Weaver... and there is no way for me to ensure that she stays safe."
Opening his eyes, Korbin looked down at his hands. Opened and closed them in his lap, aching at the emptiness of them. The powerlessness in the face of change.
"As long as Halo was cut off, at least I knew the dangers. But with the portal, strangers come and go. She leaves, without taking me along. I go too, since she asks me to. Gods meddle with our lives even though they never bothered before...
"I don't know the rules of this new Halo. There is too much to know, too much to see, and even if I run around like a headless ningo I'll never learn everything there is to know about the other regions. It's impossible to understand them all; and it makes me scared. Makes me feel weak. Ignorant. Helpless. And I hate being helpless.
"I've no idea how to deal with the feeling... so I lash out. Can't stop myself - I don't want to be an ass, but I get overrun by my own emotions."
Afraid to lose what gave his life meaning. Afraid of the unknown. Afraid of these strangers that tried to change the few things he still understood. Afraid to let them get close, lest they too became something that meant something - what if it made him lose focus of what was truly important? Keeping his sister safe.
The irony was that she was perfectly capable of protecting herself. Yet he still felt the need to watch her back, in case it gave her that extra moment needed to duck from an otherwise fatal blow.
He swallowed hard; it made him feel very exposed, to admit these things. Not a good feeling, truth be told, even if it did lighten the load a smidge. "Your turn," Korbin said. Damn if the man didn't answer.
In a peculiar way, they were as much equals as they could get. Aside from the whole Attuned versus Ascended thing. And age. And a whole array of other things that... well, set them apart. He sighed, trapped by his own logic. They didn't have to be similar to be equals, after all.
For a time, the young man closed his eyes, shut out the light. Considered, weighed options and risks. In the end... he decided that it didn't matter if Amun knew things about him. It couldn't hurt him; the opinions of this guy meant nothing.
"I guess... fear," he said slowly, and this time his voice was rough from more than just lack of use. "I've lost my family, one by one, since I was eight years old. As soon as I think I understand how the world works, something else is taken. Someone else. Now, I only have Weaver... and there is no way for me to ensure that she stays safe."
Opening his eyes, Korbin looked down at his hands. Opened and closed them in his lap, aching at the emptiness of them. The powerlessness in the face of change.
"As long as Halo was cut off, at least I knew the dangers. But with the portal, strangers come and go. She leaves, without taking me along. I go too, since she asks me to. Gods meddle with our lives even though they never bothered before...
"I don't know the rules of this new Halo. There is too much to know, too much to see, and even if I run around like a headless ningo I'll never learn everything there is to know about the other regions. It's impossible to understand them all; and it makes me scared. Makes me feel weak. Ignorant. Helpless. And I hate being helpless.
"I've no idea how to deal with the feeling... so I lash out. Can't stop myself - I don't want to be an ass, but I get overrun by my own emotions."
Afraid to lose what gave his life meaning. Afraid of the unknown. Afraid of these strangers that tried to change the few things he still understood. Afraid to let them get close, lest they too became something that meant something - what if it made him lose focus of what was truly important? Keeping his sister safe.
The irony was that she was perfectly capable of protecting herself. Yet he still felt the need to watch her back, in case it gave her that extra moment needed to duck from an otherwise fatal blow.
He swallowed hard; it made him feel very exposed, to admit these things. Not a good feeling, truth be told, even if it did lighten the load a smidge. "Your turn," Korbin said. Damn if the man didn't answer.
We don't have to smile
We don't have to make friends
We don't have to make friends
