thebastion | Day 288

Who: Paarthurnax and you
Open: Open
When: 288
Where: About the Bastion in general
What: The daily life of a dragon
Format: Any
Warnings: None yet

Life goes on in the Bastion. Whether death, calamity, or simple misfortune, that is how things work. That is how it goes for Paarthurnax, as well.

In the morning, when the sun is still faint, he takes off to the Skyway and doesn't return for some hours, bringing back both shards stuck in his teeth and the meat of a mammoth to eat, or share.

In the noon and some hours following it, he teaches his class at the stone tablet with its letters in his own tongue, patient and careful for both new students and more practiced ones alike.

The only change to this seems to come in the evening. It's then that people might notice him at the Monument, drawn up high as he sits and inspects the device.

People are free to talk with him during any of these times. Paarthurnax has always made it known that he can be approached, after all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Do you believe that its reach could affect even more worlds, if it were started again?" It had been something that had been brought up at the discussion, after all. It may very well be something to be concerned about.

"What I know so far is that Zulf didn't know us, but apparently remembered some of the last calamity. That means something changed," Colin says. "With what little I do know about the calamity, and can infer from prior conversations with my father and my teams, there are two potential causes for this. One, the fabric of time is weakening through repeated exposure to temporal reversion. This means that if it reverts again, the damage next time is likely to affect even more worlds."

"The other possibility is that the calamity is just that devastating of an event, and it only happened once before," Colin says. "What affected one world before is now affecting numerous ones. If that's the case, the damage is growing exponentially, and another reversion could amplify the damage to such a degree that... well... I can't even quantify it. The damage now is incalculable. Grow that exponentially, and it's not a pleasant though."

He sighs, and looks skyward. "I could be wrong, of course," he admits. "And I would really like to be. But if all I have to stand between more worlds than I can fathom existing being destroyed is a slim strand of hope, I'd rather err on the side of caution and not contribute to septillions of deaths."

"With all that we have learned?" Paarthurnax lays his head down upon the ground, letting out a heavy breath. "It is a wise side to choose. Hopefully the rest of our number can understand your concerns. There is still time left before the Bastion will become capable of such a thing, if what Nathaniel had told us is true.

"In the time being, I shall do my best to help soothe the tempers amongst our more rash before anything regrettable is done."

"The rest of our number think I'm arrogant and full of myself," he says, not even bothering to hide his anger. "The things I've seen make it very difficult to care for the fate of small townships, even ones that I'm living in, when planets and epochs are at stake."

He exhales and continues staring skyward. "Knowing you're nothing in the grand scheme of the universe is humbling," he says. "Knowing that other people think you're self-important for whatever reason? Infuriating. I have little patience left for the hot-headed here..."

"And I have enough for the entire Bastion." Another puff of air.

"When the need arises, I will speak with them. They do not have the experiences that you do, or that I do, to see this situation in a different light than the immediate. I will explain this, and other things. For now, your own time is best left to recovering from that heated discussion so that you might give all your focus onto the Bastion and the Calamities which have brought us all into this situation. This is something only you and Nathaniel can do."

Colin is quiet for several moments. ~~Days even.~~ Finally, he sighs, and reaches out a hand to rest on Paar's muzzle.

"That's all I can do right now," he says. "Too much work, too little time. More that I need to do than I had ever envisioned, and that's not even factoring in what I need to do for the Ura. How I envy you, Paar... at home, I would fly at times like this."

"You know if you ever have need of my wings, I will lend them to you." Another slow puff of air. "It is the least I am capable of in such circumstances."

"I appreciate the offer, but I think the kind of flight I miss may be beyond you," he says, his tone both grateful and apologetic. "I long to kiss a star again, and laugh in the face of inertia. Did you see the model of the ship the gods gave me, back during the festival?"

"I believe I recall something that was not your excitable laughter over socks." Paarthurnax gives an amused rumble of his own. "I assume it is much bigger, normally."

Colin gives lopsided smile, and he nods. "It's, perhaps, a little smaller than you are," he explains. "In that ship, I could fly into the corona of a star and watch fusion in action. I could fly from one side of the planet to another in less time than it takes for me to say that I could. I could go from planet to planet in minutes, and I could fly from one star to another in just a couple of weeks' time."

He shakes his head. "Being planet-bound, not leaving a single city for anything except brief missions, is enough to make my heart ache," he says with quiet longing. "I'm a spacer. That's all there is to it."

As utterly different as the concept of flying in space is to Paarthurnax, he still understands to some degree what Colin is expressing. Dragons are the same with the wind and sky, being creatures so closely linked to flight and all it entails. If he could no longer take to the air in any way...

"One day, perhaps, you will finally get to do so once again. I would be pleased to see such a thing myself."

Day 288

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject