Insanity, the poison that plagues every one of us. At all costs, I must discover it, I must fix it. Its a lonely path. A far-fetched imbecilic cause, but I know that the old me would have wanted this. That me I will respect at all costs, until the end of time. Until the end of my god-forsaken life.
poison fills her veins as the clock hits midnight
Midnight took a deep breath as she sat in the shade of a lone tree reading a tattered record of magic with various tools scattered about. There was not a moment of her time to waste. Although she was on duty, she was also engineering a new pick for Lunarisclan. Multitasking was hardly a hobby, but certainly a necessity for the roguish woman.
As the breeze brushed against her face, she noticed the rugged old warrior towards her left, presumably on duty with her. After a minute, she set down her book and walked over to Kwai. She stopped inches before him, looking up to him before looking down at her feet. She then took three steps backwards and met eyes with him again.
"Hello, Kwai," she said, "Do you have a minute to speak?"
[attr="class","sbox"] A slight of air tickling his nose quickly formed the impetus for Kwai Tze-keung to roar awake. In truth, it was much more akin to an attempt to sneeze quietly. He scraped at his eyes to help wake himself. Upon clearing his vision slightly, the silhouette of Winters slowly took shape before him. Kwai shuffled himself to stand up straight, withholding a yawn. 'Good day to you. Always a source of pride to--' He arched his head to see where she had been sitting prior to his nodding off. '--See you reading with great appetite.'
The overcast sky with its mild temperatures had become oppressive in how easily they helped put Kwai right to sleep. Conversation would always take precedent, however. Perhaps just an old habit, perhaps a propensity to merely speak to someone. 'Minutes are in, thankfully, no short supply for myself. How may I help you?'
Insanity, the poison that plagues every one of us. At all costs, I must discover it, I must fix it. Its a lonely path. A far-fetched imbecilic cause, but I know that the old me would have wanted this. That me I will respect at all costs, until the end of time. Until the end of my god-forsaken life.
poison fills her veins as the clock hits midnight
"Yes, well if I don't live up to the Winters family's ingenuity as Crafters, no one will," she cleared her throat looking momentarily back at her supplies. "I did not mean to interrupt your sleeping. Feel free to disregard me if you must."
She hardly paused a moment before speaking again, "I merely had some...philosophical ponderings. Was wondering if you might have the answers I'm looking for. I was wondering why you fight," she didn't neglect to add, "since you know you'll die soon."
[attr="class","sbox"] "Be that possible, I do believe it was a light draft that awoke me. Nevertheless it has brought me to this conversation so surely the weather cannot be all bad. Yes then, philosophy." Grizzled hands lifted to adjust the shoulder linkings of his armour. "Why I fight. Why? A matter of semantics, yes, but I wouldn't say I have 'fought' in the past several moon cycles. It must have been... Quite some distant time ago. But it would be unbecoming to leave such an answer. Why I fight? Fought?"
He leaned on his glaive slightly, its curved blade slicing gently down into the stony floor with ease. "Perhaps I am very fortunate, for I see this question being posed to a warrior of a different clan being very difficult. Imagine if you would some sword-flailing wretch who truly believes that 'to die' is the ultimate sacrifice that can be made, in this case through fighting and warfare. Very grim, very grim, very common. With ease one could make mention of valour or honourable death. I find these pittances. Apologies, to answer your question, I would look towards the possibility that I fight for the well-being, or what I think will lead to the well-being, of the many. So myopic as it may be, I cannot answer you that my reason to fight correlates towards any of those more fatalistic concepts."
Insanity, the poison that plagues every one of us. At all costs, I must discover it, I must fix it. Its a lonely path. A far-fetched imbecilic cause, but I know that the old me would have wanted this. That me I will respect at all costs, until the end of time. Until the end of my god-forsaken life.
poison fills her veins as the clock hits midnight
"Myopic indeed," she bordered on interrupting Kwai, "because as it stands, we are puppets of a clan, and by extension a goddess, who have no care or concern for the 'greater good' of anything outside the clan. In fact, there is not a doubt in my mind that that myopia that many here share is what will lead good people like you to fight once again and ultimately die needless deaths," her monotone voice reflected no hostility within it.
"Politics aside however, I feel I understand you better now and what makes you a good 'Warrior.' Do good people like you just not care about their own mortality? Or are you just old enough now that your instinct for survival is is much lower?"
[attr="class","sbox"] "Ask to anyone in years approaching my own, they're either keenly aware of what circumstances have befallen the clan and clanspeople, or they've already perished in service of said circumstances. A 'good' being greater must always have another's 'good' to be beneath it, to access fully the comparative nature it invokes. You'd do well to note," Perchance his voice lowered an octave, perchance it was a slight error in hearing of those nearby. "to note that a 'greater good' is not a simple quantification. I would argue well-being can be. I'm sorry, I have rambled. Mortality, is it?"
He clawed at his facial hair, in thought, a sharp shadow drawing itself across his time-defined features. "In truth, I know it to be, to meself, dissimilar. More probably if one considers mortality at every swing of a weapon, then the strikes of said weapon shall not be their own--they will be that of their opponent's, inflicted upon them whilst in thought. I hope not to have spoken confusingly. Rather, such thoughts can be distracting, and not just on the field of combat. Consider, a question for which there is no answer, that is until you have been told the answer by some outside force. Now, the time spent pondering, debating the question is rendered... Well, I must give myself pause, I wouldn't wish to speak so obliquely to you. Perhaps something I have said may prove helpful to you, madam."
Insanity, the poison that plagues every one of us. At all costs, I must discover it, I must fix it. Its a lonely path. A far-fetched imbecilic cause, but I know that the old me would have wanted this. That me I will respect at all costs, until the end of time. Until the end of my god-forsaken life.
poison fills her veins as the clock hits midnight
"I suppose that is correct," she brought a finger up to graze her lip, "that thinking on the battlefield is nothing but a hindrance. That's why I don't do a lot of thinking; I just kill. Though it is perhaps different for one who uses a weapon such as your glaive. You must see the eyes of those you face rather...intensely, I'd imagine." She paused for a minute before stepping closer once again, reaching a hand to the scars on his face.
"Your words are not the only thing oblique you've presented," she waited another second before retreating, "That was a joke if it made sense." An awkward pause. "Just so it's clear, I don't care how you speak to me." another awkward pause. "And your words have been helpful, Kwai. For the record, I have spent no time pondering. I don't really have the time to think in those terms. I just wanted an outside opinion." She then broke eye contact, toggling her gaze from the grass beneath her to the tree she had been sitting by.
[attr="class","sbox"] "Keeping oneself busy is fortuitous, especially amidst this antebellum haze." The warrior leaned back against a rock wall and closed his eyes, continuing to speak as if he was saying the most obvious thing in the world nearly akin to breathing unconscious. "I hope that the others-- I hope they appreciate this kind of situation. Introductions, conversations, and the like not held amidst no-one's land, amidst fragments of armour or weapon lost to carnage. More amicable times such as this allow thought, the time for thought even, to flourish, I've found. A benefit or comfort for some, to be sure."
"And, be it any scenario, I must make mention of my appreciation, for your taking time out of your fastidious studying to speak with me. Do feel free, more than free, to call upon me for anything I may be capable of assisting you in." As if a natural reflex, he slung his glaive back over his shoulder, then returning to his lax position. "Given how the upper echelons have yet to call upon me, I--...Well, I do not do much else, these days."
Insanity, the poison that plagues every one of us. At all costs, I must discover it, I must fix it. Its a lonely path. A far-fetched imbecilic cause, but I know that the old me would have wanted this. That me I will respect at all costs, until the end of time. Until the end of my god-forsaken life.
poison fills her veins as the clock hits midnight
"Hm. Noted,"
Elizabeth mused before walking back to return to her work. "I have need for a new assistant anyways. I will be here."
