thebastion | Day 196 // Open

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Day 196 // Open

Who: Paarthurnax and folks
Open: Open
When: 196, in the evening
Where: By the river
What: Amongst the things from a land of mountains and frost: a pair of gloves meant for more than thieves. A creation of metal and steam and other things from a race that didn't need the Calamity to do themselves in. Glowing plants that chime.
Format: any
Warnings: Grampadragon is harmless (usually). No guarantees for the rest of the losers in the Bastion.

In the absence of the group that head to Sky Haven Temple, the Bastion has brought something to fruition for Paarthurnax. In the evening as the dragon returns, he circles about before landing by the riverside to inspect his new prizes.

The most notable is an enormous construct which shines in the light of the dimming sun. It almost seems to breathe in and out, but that's just the puff of steam which exit from it- a sign it's active if nothing else although it doesn't seem to move. Draped across one of its arms are a set of gloves, a dark contrast against the brilliant metal.

The last of his acquisitions would be the plants which now are growing along the river's edge and amongst the shore of the lake. It's harder to tell in the daytime, but as it grows darker, one can see the pale green glow they give off. It's one constant, however, is the faint chiming noise that becomes readily apparent to any who are near to it.

Paarthurnax seems pleased with it all, inspecting the Centurion carefully and brushing his nose against the plants.

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"A lot of 'mortal' families aren't that intimate either," Zuko can't help muttering. She and her uncle were close, as were she and her mother, but the whole family? Pretty much a failure. She can barely remember the days when she and Azula actually got along.

"...so what happened?"

Paarthurnax can't say he has too much experience with mortal families, not for many many years at any rate. He simply knows what is expected of them- the general idea of it.

"Two things happened. One of the first was that my brother, worshipped and filled with power as he was, began to consider himself on parr with the Gods as well. Such a thing... I had always known my brother to be full of pride, but I had not realize he had deluded himself to such an extent." Another sigh, this one more disappointed than anything. "The second to happen... was that those mortals we had counted as mere slaves began to fight back. They wanted freedom- not to slave away under an empire that viewed them as nothing."

"You must have still sided with your brother at first, though, right?" Even thinking he was deluded... Well, maybe not. Zuko didn't have the presence of mind to recognize those things in her own family for a long time. Paarthurnax may not have needed so much convincing.

"I was his lieutenant." Saying just that may not seem like much. Certainly not with the plain way Paarthurnax states it, as if his name wasn't known throughout all of dragonkind and mortalkind both. As if the Blades never referred to him as "legendary". "He was the first I had known for all my life. We had cared for one another as much as our kind could allow. It is not an easy thing to turn your back on one so close... is it?"

It means enough, to say how invested Paarthurnax was in that side of the battle. She guesses it is hard to choose another side over family. It isn't just her.

"I don't think it is. Or at least, it shouldn't be." She's not thinking of her father now, but her uncle. Had it been easy to betray him like she had? No, but it hadn't been as hard as it should have been, either.

"Mu los do gein Thu'um." It's said quietly, more to himself than anything. But the rest of the story goes on.

"However, eventually, even I could not deny that he had gone too far from his path. He had already strayed enough from his purpose, and we had permitted this. I and some others... deflected. On their own, the warriors could not truly defeat our kind. So we aided them by teaching them- we had them learn the Thu'um."

What had he said that was? 'Voice'?

"I'm not sure I understand."

"The Thu'um is what brought us so much power. When I said it earlier, I did not simply mean the ability to speak." His head cants to the side slightly. "Our words are more than just meaning. When used truly, we understand the very concept of yol, or fo. They are a part of us, and our Thu'um brings them into being. Our words make them happen."

A nod is given to Zuko. "You have seen it, when we ventured out after Night's death."

She remembers. She'd been surprised to see him using ice, but she hadn't made the connection with his shouting then. When he explains it like that, it makes some sense to her, not like the few people she's asked about magic, who talk like it just happens.

"I see. And that's something that humans can learn?"

"Geh. However... It is not something which comes to them easily. It takes very long for them to learn to use it, and then longer still to make sure their very voice does not recklessly destroy. Some do not even speak, lest their Thu'um be unleashed." His poor students, keeping their mouths shut save for breath and food.

"There were three in particular who I taught. Hakon One-Eye, Felldir the Old, and Gormlaith Golden-Hilt... Yet they soon became more than mere tools to use against my brother, more than students. Against my expectations... I found them to be good friends above all."

"Did that make it any easier?"

If the Avatar and his friends hadn't accepted her, if they hadn't come to depend on each other and maybe even call each other friends, she wonders how strong her resolve would have been to stand against her own nation.

Paarthurnax actually stops to consider the question, stewing over it. Finally, he gives a slow nod. "I believe it did... Yet such things never stop being painful. Especially when one is old, and all are no longer."

"I thought that was supposed to fade with time. You must have lost them a long time ago..."

It's clear enough from the way she says it that she doesn't feel her own losses have faded any yet.

"For those of us immortal, those who shall never truly die unless our soul is devoured- it is far too easy for us to be trapped by our emotions and to carry them for many years. Sorrow is by far the easiest- Nii los mid fahdon."

There's a pause and he shakes his head. "And Alduin was only truly defeated shortly before the Calamity."

"Oh. I didn't realize your war was that recent..."

She's a little confused on saying it, because she had the impression that it had happened in the earlier part of his 5,000 years, or at least that some time had passed. Maybe she misheard.

Paarthurnax acknowledges the confusion, but unfortunately the truth probably won't make things easier for her. He continues, however- he's not one to lie on such things.

"It was. However, it was won against my brother not necessarily by defeating him. My friends then were strong warriors and took to the Thu'um the best out of all of those who I taught it to. However, they were not enough for my brother. Only one being could defeat him- they simply had not yet been born. So they did the only thing that was possible: they sent him forward in time." Paarthurnax pauses there. He knows that for many races, it's an idea that's possibly hard to grasp... Especially those who don't have Elder Scrolls in their world.

Paarthurnax is right; time travel is not exactly a concept Zuko is familiar with. The closest thing she's experienced are the regrets of 'if I could go back in time,' or the part where Aang was technically 112 years old...

"...I've heard of someone being frozen for a long time and not aging, but how do you... send someone to another time? And how could you know it would be any better?"

"Artifacts known as Elder Scrolls- Kel. Scrolls which hold both knowledge of the past and knowledge of the future... along with immense power. To use them comes at great cost." Paarthurnax gives a bow of his head. "It was Felldir who thought of this plan, and he who used it after Gormlaith lost her life to my brother's teeth. "

"Like a prophecy?" Although she's skeptical of anyone really knowing the future, Zuko does believe in destiny. And Aang did have visions and things, so what Paarthurnax is talking about is... still difficult to wrap her mind around, but she thinks she has the gist of it.

The desperation they must have felt when they used it, though, that's a much more comprehensible thing.

"...I'm sorry."

"It was their choice. Because of it, their lands began to be free of the tyranny we had levied onto them. I honor it. I am certain that Sovnegarde awaited them- their land where the bravest of warriors find themselves in their deaths." A puff of air once again washes over Zuko.

"Many wish for long lives, yet it is easy to forget with such longevity that you will lose many friends and family. Still... If not for my long life, I would not have met you or the rest of those who dwell here. I am thankful for that."

Everyone in the Bastion has lost people without needing to live to old age, but Paarthurnax has probably lost a lot more over the years, making friends with humans. And he'll lose more here, as the rest of them live out their lives. But hopefully, that's a ways away yet.

"...I am, too," is all she says in the end. She still wishes there was someone else from her own world here, but she has to be grateful for the people from other worlds who've been accepting of her.

A puff of warm air rushes over Zuko.

"Thank you for indulging an old dov his words."

Zuko shakes her head. "Thank you for telling me. It's not easy to talk about the past like that."

And there were a few... familiarities in it that she wasn't expecting.

"It is a past I have come to accept. We may only better ourselves by knowing our mistakes."

"Well, I've made a lot of them. I guess I should have a pretty good grasp of what not to do myself."

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