Day 151 - The Truth is Harsh

[followsthevoice]

Who: The Kid and You
Open: Open
When: Day 151
Where: The Monument
What: Time for the truth to come out
Format: Any
Warnings: Drama, Perhaps foul language, Perhaps even violence

[After a short while of waiting for people to gather, The Kid eventually rose up and stared out at the small crowd that had gathered; Zulf hadn't been kidding about there being more people here...not exactly an emboldening thing to think about if he was being honest. He took a deep breath and set his hammer down as he began to speak...either which way, he wasn't going to need it for this, no matter how secure it made him feel.]

Thanks fer comin', I got some things I need t'straighten ya'll out on here, even if what I'm gonna say sounds crazy.

[He sighed deeply, knowing that it was going to sound crazy...but crazy or not, it was the truth.]

I ain't good with speeches, so I'm gonna give ya'll the quick version. I knew about t'Calamity a'fore it happened; I had a first hand experience with it and a group of us tried to stop it from happening...but things didn't end up going as planned and as y'can see, it didn't work.

[Memories of his fights and struggles came flooding back; the only indication held behind the mask of apathy he'd managed to build up over many years of hardship...to a normal person, he would look almost uncaring as he explained the situation, but if someone knowledgeable looked into his eyes, they'd see all the sincerity they could handle.]

In t'end though, this all falls back t'me. I made t'choice to try 'an fix things before they could break...and it was that choice that lead everythin' to where it is now.

[He cast his gaze out on the crowd, focusing for a second longer on Nathaniel than the others, but eventually he had met everyone's gaze; just to make sure they understood what he was saying.]

I might not have started the Calamity, but I sure as hell did make the choice to fight against it; so if any ya'll got an issue t'take up with me, you got all the right in the world to. I made this mess, so I'm gonna own up t'it; what ya'll do from here is yer business, but know I ain't gonna fight any decision y'make. All I ask is y'leave my friends out of it; they ain't got nothin' t'do with any of this.

[He gaze was sharp as he finished, leaving no room for doubt that if anyone tried to bring Zulf or Zia into this, his offer of not fighting their decision would be tossed right out the window. This was his burden to bear, not theirs, and he was going to keep it that way.]

Comments

[gianthobo]

[AZ raises his voice, quiet as it is. It's a little hard to miss the giant man, though.]

Your intentions were good. If you tried to fix it, then we're all glad, I think. Sometimes things happen... and those who build weapons are motivated by many things. It's not always possible to stop them.

But thank you for trying. I don't think the blame rests with you.

[bastionpc]

[Amongst the gathered group, there was an Ura present, but not the one others might have expected. The quiet and generally reserved Zayna, with her constant stern expression and rigid posture, lingered some steps back from most of the small crowd.

She said nothing. She did nothing. Even with the Kid's admission of guilt (however misplaced it might have been), no emotion registered on her face. She simply remained quiet, staring at him.]

[fuckthemancers]

[So after a few things, that certainly is Zulf approaching AZ after everything has happened. He just has to say something.]

I caught wind that you supported him when everything happened. I just wanted to say thank you for that.

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin watches The Kid curiously, and when Kid gives Nathan a look, so too does Colin. He still doesn't know enough about the Calamity to say anything, one way or the other, but he's never one to be angry about weapon development. The circumstances behind deployment? That's another matter. He... may need to grab the kid and talk to him, later... but right now, he's got enough on his plate at the moment.]

[Plus, there's the fact that he was engaging in conversation with a very charming and understanding dragon.]

Not quite what I was expecting, actually...

[wayofvoice]

It makes one wonder if there are others who know more about this tale.

[Paarthurnax keeps speaking to Colin, but his head is raised high so that he can look through the small crowd with a watchful eye.]

For Colin

[hellpyre]

[Nathaniel had come to Rin while Bon was still in the kitchen with her, and while she hadn't exactly been as warm with him as she normally would have, she didn't refuse his request for everyone to meet up at least.

The two of them had gone together, hand in hand, but Kid's admission only confirmed what Rin had been told, and what she had also been suspecting since that conversation - that people she had come to know and trust in just three short months knew more than they were letting on.

It had left her uncharacteristically quiet, holding on to Bon's hand and looking thoughtful and distant.

In the end... she couldn't think of anything to say. So much was still too over her head to grasp fully. She just knew that she still felt betrayed, and hurt, and she didn't want to deal with it anymore.

Feeling tense, worked up, she still couldn't push the anger fully out of her system. But the kitchen wasn't going to take another hit from her rage. Standing, she spoke quietly to Bon and told him she was going to go to the onsen alone and wandered off in that direction.

A bath wasn't the answer to everything but it would help at least...]

Re: For Colin

[freedom_engineer]

[With Rin breaking off from the rest of the Bastion's inhabitants, it left Colin with a perfect opportunity to talk to her. He jogged after her, keeping his footfalls relatively quiet until he was practically on top of her, and he fell into step beside her with ease.]

Rin-Rin.

[He gave her a slight nod as he walked.]

[kyotoprincess]

[Bon listened to the whole explanation quietly, glad to finally be getting some answers. But as he heard the explanation, he found himself feeling less and less glad. Could this have been prevented? Bon does not know. But he does know that he doesn't blame the Kid for any of this, or his friends. If he truly did try to stop the Calamity, then he is not at fault.]

Laying blame isn't going to help now anyway. Regardless of who caused the Calamity, or why, we still have to deal with what happened.

What's better for us is if we focus on what to do now, instead of asking 'what if' or 'how could it've been stopped'.

[bastionpc]

I agree with you, kid. This is a mess some one else got us in to, and there's nothing we can do about what happened now. If we focus on all the wrong things, we're never going to survive past this day, let alone the next year and more.

[croceamors]

It's good to see some more common sense come out of people's mouths. We have enough on our plates just surviving without worrying about everything else.

A SKEPTIC ARRIVES

[bastionpc]

[Interestingly enough, it's not Nathaniel who doubts the Kid's story, but Zahi. Or rather, he is hesitant to take it as the full truth, especially considering how two other residents just went to blows because neither of them were telling the full truth.

He must investigate this more before deciding for sure if he'll trust the Kid's story.]

Is that the whole truth?

[followsthevoice]

I knew t'Calamity was comin'. Group o'friends an' me tried t'stop it, ended up bein' nothing we could do. That's true as truth comes.

[There wasn't anything else he could add to the statement without sounding insane while keeping it 100 percent truthful; he didn't have any intention on being misleading, but it wasn't going to help his case if he sounded high on Swampweed. His eye contact with the new face never broke, his gaze never shifted, there wasn't even a muscle in his face that twitched.]

I ain't got nothin' t'hide here, hidin' things only brings trouble.

Ura tag team, COMIN' THROUGH

[fuckthemancers]

[Apparently the warning that Zulf and Zia have nothing to do with this event is going to be disproven in 3... 2...]

[1.]

[That sure is a shoe sailing over everyone's heads and going right for the Kid's face. Whether it hits... Well, there's a good chance it won't, but it's the emotion behind the gesture that counts.]

[Since goodness, that certainly is Zulf storming towards the Monument where the Kid is and Zia is right with him. Neither of them look particularly pleased, but Zulf is outright livid. The fact that it's not the cold vicious hateful anger he's shown to Rucks or Nathaniel is actually quite telling. This is something born more from worry and concern than hatred and fury. One hand has his other shoe, and the other hand is holding up his skirt just enough so he can quickly make his way to the Kid without tripping.]

I cannot believe you! We told you that we wouldn't let you do this on your own! Everything that happened had just as much to do with her and I!

[They're finally close enough to both Caels, and Zulf briefly sends a glare Nathaniel's way. It's less a symbol of hatred this time and more a warning. Don't get involved or he will hit you with this shoe so help him Mother of us all.]

Not everything is your own fault. Just this once you could have let the two of us help with at least this burden since you go where we can't otherwise! Don't dismiss our own choices so easily, for that matter.

[There's probably more to say- Zulf has words to spare even when you cut out any frustrated curses that are going through his mind- but he has to catch his breath since he did run over here. Zia, please yell at the Kid in his stead.]

[followsthevoice]

[Crack. The Kid's head snapped backwards from the force of the shoe hitting his face, partly due to the shoe's sturdy design and partly due to how hard Zulf had managed to throw it in his anger. The Kid had seen it coming, of course...but he hadn't moved; he knew who that shoe belonged to and he knew that if it was being thrown, he deserved it. Once Zulf had finished his angry rant, The Kid lowered his face which was flecked with dots of blood that seemed to accentuate the steady stream of it running down his nose...as well as the odd angle said nose was now taking; not that he seemed any less stonefaced than usual.]

Nife shof...

[He paused, realizing how hard it was to speak with a disjointed nose and with a quick movement, he pinched it between his two thumbs and snapped it back in place with a sickening crack and crunch of bones resetting. He sniffed a few times to make sure it was working right before looking back at Zulf.]

Ever thought 'bout takin' up a War Machete?

AND ANOTHER SKETPIC

[bastionpc]

[So most reactions have been fairly calm so far, even Zahi voicing his own uncertainty over the whole mess.

But there is one who doesn't seem to be okay with this at all. A certain glasses-wearing blond musician has been sitting off to the side through most of this, quietly, but it's clear that he's very unnerved by what he's hearing.

Eventually, though, he does speak up, his accent a noticeable difference from most there.]

... are you people really okay with hearing all of this?! That... kid [said with a somewhat wild gesture at the Kid] just admitted that the people here had WMDs! Weapons of mass destruction! H-how can you all just sit there with straight faces and not be bothered by this at all?!

What's to say if we get this floating rock in the sky working proper, they won't just do it again?!

[gianthobo]

[... AZ looks over at the blond, raising his voice slightly.]

I don't know about other people here, but I know that I personally would not allow it. I have experience with war, and I would make sure that those sorts of weapons were destroyed.

[superdrowningskills]

You say this as if people are not perfectly capable of destroying each other one by one, and have not been doing so for ages.

[A bit of a pessimistic viewpoint perhaps, but then again, he remembers the days of witch hunts.]

[bastionpc]

[Among the masses there is a tall blonde woman, all of Amazonian-like build and rarely ever seen without a sword at her side, even in casual clothing. Unlike the other one making noise, she doesn't seem terribly upset about all of this. In fact her face is rather placid - not in an uncaring way, but in an understanding way.

She was the right hand woman to the Queen of Atlantis, before everything was destroyed. Making difficult decisions for the sake of the whole, even if it meant destroying some, was an every day occurrence for her and her queen.]

If disagreement between two groups was what caused such a thing, then I imaging communication was either too difficult to maintain, or had broken down enough to the point where the leaders of your people saw no other choice.

It doesn't make it right, but leaders and military forces are often put in positions where the "right" choice doesn't even exist in their plans.

[followsthevoice]

Who really knows?

[The Kid gave a shrug; no matter how much was explained or theorized, the only one who knew why they made such a weapon was the Mancers themselves.]

Right or wrong, they made a man make a weapon t'use against his own people; I can't blame him fer makin' it backfire on 'em.

[findsrisks]

You know, I can understand your point. We really do need to stay united, and arguing about who's to blame is only going to divide us further.

But still, I would've liked some honesty from the start. At the very least, we should all agree to be honest with each other, so that hiding information doesn't lead to problems anymore.

[blackblooded]

[Oh it's Crona's favorite NPC.]

I don't know. Sometimes people just want to kill other people.

[blackblooded]

[Crona stands on the edges of the gathering, thinks and considers and tries to decide if it would be right to be angry. Ragnarok is indifferent, but he doesn't care about much beyond his next meal, so his opinions don't count.

It's still easier to decide things when Ragnarok voices his opinions.]

[findsrisks]

[Whoops guess who's slipping over to stand by Crona.]

Are you going to be alright?

For Zia

[fuckthemancers]

[After talking to a few of the other residents just to get a feel for the air of the Bastion now, Zulf finally withdraws himself. It's been enough time, he thinks. Hopefully Zia is feeling a little better about things. If not... Well, he'll do his best.]

[So he starts to look around, doing his best to remember the areas she likes to go to the most.]

[evacuate]

[All that remembering isn't going to do Zulf any good, because Zia isn't in any of her usual hangout. She's at the far eastern edge of the Bastion, past the lost and found. She's throwing the same five rocks—not quite pebbles, but none any bigger than her fist—as hard as she can over the edge. After each throw, she steps aside to make the next, and only goes to collect the ones that have bounced back after she's tossed them all.

By the time Zulf finds her, her throws are mostly half-hearted underhand tosses, but she is too focused on them to notice him.]

Kid, your turn

[fuckthemancers]

[It had been rather early on when Zulf had discovered that Kid was no longer in the Bastion. It hadn't been a discovery made on purpose, not right then- he had been looking for Zia. Still, it had saved him a little time. After speaking with her, he hadn't hesitated to grab the only two weapons he had a (very) faint idea of how to use and go to the Skyway.]

[The shoe he had thrown at Kid is still missing- somehow stuck in the Monument is what Zulf suspects. So he sets off with just his bare feet. It's... not as uncomfortable as he would have thought. Memories of living in the tunnels on his own bubble to the surface of his mind. That's right... This hasn't been the first time he's had to travel through difficult territory and toughen up the soles on his feet.]

[The Skyway and everything in it is enormous. Zulf doesn't have the faintest of where to start. He tries what's left of the Walls, dares to venture to the Wharfs again... He's just starting to get worried when he pauses and tilts his head to the side.]

[What was that sound..?]

[followsthevoice]

[That sound was the distinct sound of trees cracking and falling in the distance followed by very loud and angry shouts; no words, but definite guttural anger were behind them with just the faintest hint of frustration lacing it all. It was coming from the direction of Trigger Hill...though considering the violent nature of the noises...who could say who or what was causing such a ruckus that way? Was it worth checking out? That was up to Zulf.]