To lead but never follow

DEIMOS

ache first, but then let the cuts close
spit out the blood

No matter what he’d heard of the Order, nothing had been good. Their stances seemed, at least he hoped, outliers in the scheme of things. While a majority of the heralds and deities had been quite vocal in their contempt for Ascended, he hadn’t heard anything more than the general distaste of Abandoned; and even then, for those much like himself, viewpoints could eventually be altered. Safrin, at the very least, seemed willing to accept those intending to step into her orbit. He hadn’t heard of any prejudices from Frey, and had wandered forth in Ludo’s presence as well, without cause for concern except when he over-extended his reach. “And those wanting to become hybrids have not had an issue,” he recalled; brows furrowing once more. “It would be easy enough for them to wipe out any Abandoned who wandered up to a shrine.” Peculiar and bizarre. “Do you believe many citizens of Stormbreak share the same opinion?” A widely accepted claim? Something they didn’t want to bother with?

That she hadn’t gone to Safrin yet wasn’t surprising; he had his own misgivings lately, with recent upheavals. But the Sword gave a simplistic nod in reference to the notion, not pushing the matter. Consulting with others, getting some sort of threshold behind her before making any other nuances was a start. And the deities themselves another. Calmer now that he had machinations and calculations in front of him, he continued to ponder out loud. “What did they have to say?”

watch your body pull itself back together
then let your soul do the same