trans_9 | One more reason to keep on going

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One more reason to keep on going

Irma was gone. Matt was gone. Just about everyone from their universe seemed to have been podded, and Kaya decided, in the wake of this, that she should still make sure the classrooms were kept clean. The place she was staying, Will's room with all of the gymnastics, had been clean after Kaya ad attempted a fairly rigorous workout. She had made sure that Matt's wares were stocked, the common room swept and cleaned, so that when the other came around, they would have a nice place to sit and talk.

First there was Cornelia's room, with all of its earth nation goodness and flowers, making sure that the architecture was carefully polished and everything watered so nothing was neglected. She couldn't help passing by this room and thinking of Toph.

Then she moved onto Hay Lin's room, which never failed to remind her of Aang with all of its wind implements, very much something an airbender would have loved: she would have to make sure to tell both Aang and Nima about it if they had the chance to visit. It always seemed so big and grand and open to her, as she thought the element air should anyhow.

Tarnee's room, while once making her wary with its affiliation for fire, was gotten over once you stepped inside: it was kept in balance with all of the books and the globes that were a representation of energy everywhere. She always loved coming here to expand her mind a bit, and it was a perfect reflection of an intellectual girl Kaya never had the pleasure of meeting.

And then, of course, there was Irma's room. She knew there was an obvious bias here, stepping into the room that reflected her best, with all of its watery element and the ability to swim in and out of the water that surrounded the room. She was cleaning here a little, and then could not help herself: she discarded her clothing, wrapped only in her underclothes and jumped in, allowing the underwater environment to envelop her. Perhaps her favorite thing about this place was how she could still breathe underwater.

She was so entranced, she did not notice anyone coming in.

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Well that was disconcerting. "I've never heard of a kind of magic that was corrupting, but maybe that's because with magic its similar to how when you have power and the potential to do bad, you do that. I won't pretend to know all of the intricacies about it, and obviously I don't, but its the closest comparison I can make."

At the mention of Ronnae though, and her half heritage being addicted to that kind of magic, a thrill of fear DID run through her. What if that happened to her friend? Would she ever recover from something like that?

"Has Ronnae ever had any dealing with magic like that?"

And she did listen intently to the story of the Naaru, the creatures of Light. "So its not something Night Elves chose to explore because it did not concern them?"

"Not exactly in that way, no. She does have a few issues concerning...I suppose it would be necromantic magic? And a bit of the Old God's touch. That weapon she wields...'Shadowmourne' she calls it. It was crafted to 'fight fire with fire', basically. As a part of its creation a vast number of the souls of creatures raised and trapped by the Lich King were fed to that weapon."

He dropped his head slightly as if he were displeased with the words he was going to speak. "Personally...I am not sure why they decided to give her the weapon. She is a tough fighter, yes but she is very emotionally unstable as it was. The weapon only exacerbated that by a tremendous amount. She's easily taunted and manipulated by the souls inside the weapon. It should have been given to someone with a stronger will to repel such things."

With a small sigh, he drew his knees up to his chest and circled his arms around them. Reluctant acceptance was really all he could do for that situation.

"They did not need to explore it. Call it a difference of faith. For thousands of years we have revered Elune, the moon goddess. She has watched over her 'children' and bestowed many a gift and blessing upon them. While the Human priests use the Light, Night Elves have been receiving their healing gifts from Elune for thousands of years--though before it was only women who received those abilities. Apparently more men are able to serve Elune as a priest nowadays," he explained.

'Nowadays' being 'before Azeroth was destroyed' of course.

That was not something that she had not known about, and Nokosi could see that Kaya was a bit worried about Ronnae now. She thought about what to say to this, hearing all that had happened, that she owned an object that actually had souls in it: why had her friend never told her?

"I guess it served in her best interest to keep it a secret," she said, although saying it aloud had a bit of a hollow sound to it. "I can't...I don't imagine I understand why she would choose to have a weapon that would play on her worst fears. I suppose she's trying to master them, that makes sense, and she likely hasn't used it in awhile."

She closed her eyes. She would have to help Ronnae with such things, if need be. Not that she didn't feel slightly miffed for not being told though.

"I can understand that. The benders, and even those on their own islands, had differences of faith just as Night Elves and humans do. It's a way to distinguish each other, I guess."

"It was the only way," he quickly said. "At least, that's what they claimed. That those few who wielded a Shadowmourne truly had the power to defeat the Lich King. There might have been a better way but who knows. I only speak from second hand account as I admittedly did very little against the final push with the Lich King."

He'd been plenty busy doing other, less important things, really. Well, only in the grand scheme of things, anyways. Icecrown had always made every part of him fill with a twisting uneasiness that wasn't soothed by any manner of words, company or comforting.

"It is just how things came to be. Elune is said to be the 'mother' of Night Elves...she had little reason to consort with the other races, especially considering the distance between them. It has not been that long since the other races have come in contact with elves."

"If that's the case, than I'm not one to presume what Ronnae should or should not have done. I just worry about her, that's all. I don't like it when she has to deal with more than people ought to deal with in the first place, and to find out she had this looming over her? It's pretty hard to hear."

That was a shame. All of these misunderstandings usually led to a special kind of intolerance, something that Kaya tried to avoid, especially after that hateful woman had come aboard.

"I don't see the reason to stay away from any races. Differences, prejudices: they just divide us and cause hostile feelings if they have no basis in actuality."

"Indeed. I have tried to separate her and the weapon but others who wield it are given mental nightmares of their worst fears. While I suffer less than most it is still quite a traumatic experience, but that is how the Old Gods work. Perhaps it is simply a part of her now? I do not know," he said, shaking his head slightly.

Whatever dour look he had was wiped away by the current expression Kaya wore. It made the corners of his lip rise in a smile and he didn't bother to stifle the light chuckle.

"You misunderstand me a bit, Kaya. We stayed away from the other races because Humans, Dwarves and Gnomes did not know of us. It was not until..." his brows furrowed in thought as his mind raced to recover the bits and pieces of information he'd been told.

"The Third war, I believe, that the continent of Kalimdor was re-discovered by those races. This was nearly a decade ago. It has not been that long, you see. Though the differences, prejudices and hatred are ridiculously strong when it concerns the Horde versus the Alliance...the Night Elves and the High Elves, to some extent have been around for thousands and thousands of years."

He raised his head slightly before resting it on his knees. "It brings up an interesting question, though."

"I would hope not," Kaya said, shivering a little. "I always wondered about Ronnae when it came to her fears: she had a particular episode during a simulation where she was eaten, and it was a situation I tried to help with. Wen it comes to Ronnae, despite the whole fending for oneself argument, I'd like to do what I can to help her."

And she had heard some of this before, Hordes verses Alliance, more of these wars that seemed to be fueled by either prejudice or those seeking power: it made Kaya wonder what exactly they'd be dealing with when it came to the Ohm.

"What question is that?"

"She can be stubborn sometimes. Not as stubborn as I am but there are moments of irrationality, though that can be said for everyone. I am sure you know this as well."

"The question," he said, running a weathered hand through his long, violet hair in a vain attempt to remove the foliage there. "Is how much of your culture, your people should one be willing to give up in pursuits of eliminating the differences that cause prejudice and set us apart? After all, some of those difference define a people and make them who they are."

He paused to get his thoughts in order, then spoke. "An example. Should the Night Elves, who have been who have lived on Azeroth for nearly fourteen thousand years, sacrifice their status with their goddess and attempt to instead learn the teachings of the Light just to diminish the distance of 'difference' and further 'understanding' for a race they have only known for a decade?"

"Should the Trolls downplay their tribalistic nature and worship of animal-gods and begin living not in thatched roofed-homes, but buildings with actual doors and beds with pillows and mattresses. Wear 'nicer' robes and do away with their face-paints and other rituals to seem more 'normal' to the Blood Elves who are the opposite and heavily dislike their 'barbaric' nature?"

He idly began braiding long strands of hair as he spoke. "Those are the 'differences' that set us apart. Mostly cultural in nature, but they are some of the small things that make it hard for one race to get along with another. Tell me Kaya."

"How much of one's culture, one's people should one be willing to give up in pursuit of a semblance of 'equality' and 'understanding' that is only given because one is now 'more like what others' are used to?"

His voice held nothing but pure curiosity in it as he awaited for her answer. He, of course, would not be biased either way because it was simply a hypothetical question.

"Of course," Kaya said. "I'm just as known for being stubborn myself. I've calmed down somewhat since being here, but I am known to have a lapse in temper at times, just like my teacher."

And those examples were good questions. The hypothetical was one of the reasons that Kaya enjoyed having Nokosi around: he always knew how to ask the right questions to make her rethink her position, to allow her to realize were she might have to ponder a different way of things.

"But why should abandoning one's way with their heritage be the only way you can have some harmony and understanding? It's not been necessary for me to stop being a waterbender and stoop my tribe's way just to learn about others things. Well, a little. I mean yes, I DID have to leave my tribe and go out and see the world since they had been in seclusion for a long time during the war, but they started to realize that themselves! Sometimes its just about opening your mind a little bit, and never forgetting who you are and where you're from."

Nokosi dropped his legs and crossed them over one another. Placing his hands in the empty spot, he leaned forward slightly as he listened to her reply. Once she finished, he tilted his head to the side slightly, the smile still lingering on his lips.

"I had a feeling you would say that," he finally said. "That method involves the hope that one will be the better 'man' or 'woman', so to speak. I cannot disagree with that, as I am that way. I will not change to suit someone else's needs, but therein lies the...ah...what is it they call it?"

"Ah!" He exclaimed, eyes lighting up in realization. "double-edged sword, I believe? Yes, one can be true to their ways as they are but then you are left with the prospect of the other party needing to accept you the way you are. Which is the problem I addressed. Most people don't accept one's people the 'way they are', which in turn breeds the prejudice and division you spoke of earlier."

He raised one hand in example as he spoke. "What is one to do, then? Simply wait it out for the other party to open their eyes and finally accept them?" Nokosi lifted his other hand as if showing her the weight of each 'solution'. "Or do they speed the process up by bending themselves in order to place more common ground?"

It was another one of those moments where Nokosi was attempting to say something profound she could see it in his posture, in the way he thought carefully about what he was going to say. She couldn't help but be sort of enraptured in what he was saying, and usually had a counterargument, or at least, a way to reinforce her point of view.

"I don't think anyone ought to change to suit someone else's needs either. I think you should still be yourself, but be open to think about someone else's way of living. For instance, Ronnae and certain family member's are more intimate in a way I could never imagine myself to be with my family. Yet since being on this ship, I've come to know that other universes and other words are governed by their own rules and will allow some things others will not."

And she shook her head "And see, that's the thing I find hard to get. Why is it so hard to believe that one has a different way of thinking than another person? Yes, I understand that those differences can be extreme, even taboo in some cases, but they don't have them specifically to annoy or bother someone else! They exist to remind us that life, wherever it is, whatever form it takes, is precious and honored in many different ways. If I have to get used to someone else's way of being because its different from mine, is it so hard to do? Do I have to demand they change because they offend me? And if I am stronger somehow, is it necessary I bend them to my will, simply so I can feel superior?"

The small smile of before grew into a toothy grin that looked double pleased.

"I like your answer, Kaya. It takes into account the vast differences between races and more importantly, situational circumstances of why things are as they are. And you did not go the route to make it as simple as the overly optimistic 'we should all get along just because'."

He began plucking a few flowers as he spoke, eyes cast down. Nimble fingers wove the stems in and out of each other and he paused for just a moment to push stray locks of hair from his face.

"Your explanation of why we should all be thankful for everyone's differences was quite profound, I will also say."

Kaya returned the smile, looking to be actually glowing for a moment. It was always great to talk with Nokosi about any and everything, yet somehow, when she and he managed to see eye to eye on something, it made her feel-well, gratified somehow.

"No one is ever going to get along because, Nokosi: if I said something like that, it would mean I learned nothing being here at all. This place has a way, I'll admit, of changing things I once knew, but it also has a way of reinforcing things I learned a long time ago. One of the most important things you learn is that people are different always, but that doesn't make understanding them impossible."

She looked down at the flowers a moment. "I try to see the beauty in everything around me, because I'm still living, and because of that I want to make the most of what I've got. No matter the hardships or the strife: its a part of being alive. People, no matter how apart you are from them, are an aspect of living too. As is Fontaine."

And here, she place a wreath of flowers around his head. "I hope he doesn't mind that!"

He hummed in agreement. "Yes, I realize that but there are plenty who think things should be that way. They are very open-minded but completely blind to the world, if you understand what I mean."

Nokosi turned to glance at Fontaine who was sprawled out in the grass, lounging. The wolf seemed plenty happy with how things were at the moment and the sound that came from him was akin to a growling mewl.

"No, not at all. Fontaine is a sucker when it comes to any woman; double so when it is an attractive woman," he said, turning his head back to his work.

He pushed and tugged on the flowers, moving them where he wanted and getting the display of flowers just so so that it followed the colors present in the spectrum of light. Once he was finished he placed the creation on her head as well.

"That is true. There are things about others--good things that we do not see because we do not want to. There are also very terrible, horrendous things as well. It has always been that way, as it always will be. Life and nature has a way of maintaining balance like that."

"I think I do," Kaya said. "I know quite a few people who think they're open minded, but a reluctant to amend the way they think. That can sometimes be dangerous in its own way, depending on how much power they have where they're from."

Kaya smiled. "It's sweet of you to say that. I just wanted to make sure I didn't overstep my bounds, after all. He is your companion." She did, however, give him a meaningful pat.

At the flowers placed on her head though, she made it look as if she were very busily inspecting the ground: in fact, her face was fairly flushed. "Thank you, Nokosi. It's very pretty!"

She nodded. "I've seen that to be the case, actually. I think the people on this ship are a perfect testament to that. The question really come down to who is who. And with you, I really want to know all your points, good and bad."

He eyed her curiously for a short moment before leaning forward with one hand flat against the grass to support his weight.

Was that...was she really embarrassed by that? He'd seen both Ronnae and Billy blush incredibly frequently but hardly ever when it came to her. She was either too self-assured or straight-forward to let that crimson color seep into her cheeks. Now that she had, it was almost like a rare treat.

"You are blushing," he said, pointing out the obvious. He placed a hand against one of her cheeks as if to test the warmness there. It brought back the few memories of when he thought being flushed in the face could only mean one thing: having a fever.

"Fontaine is right," he said after a moment of silence. "Bashful is a good look for you but personally I prefer when you have that ardent look when you are speaking about something very passionately, whether it be your ideals or...simply the type of food you enjoy the most."

"I wasn't expecting the flowers, I suppose," Kaya said, and really, it was that coupled with being called pretty that had really caught her off guard. "I'm not sick or anything really, I just wasn't expecting it."

That and it had unexpectedly made her happy. She hadn't really been complimented like that since Matt, and, as it was coming from Nokosi, it caused a strange feeling in her.

"You guys!" She said, laughing. "You're embarrassing me! But honestly, I really appreciate it. I love the way you look too Nokosi, when you're talking about the things you've seen. It makes me really understand how much you enjoy being in nature. I envy you for that."

A laugh escaped his lips at her explanation. "I know you are not sick, though that is what I used to associate the look with. As for flowers, they are nice. I can show you many, many kinds. Back in Azeroth I was an herbalist by trade."

Fontaine rolled over with a bit of an effort as if he were regretting moving, but still he walked over to Kaya and lay beside her. The wolf's maw opened wide in a mighty yawn before he placed his furry head against his large paws.

"I thank you for the compliment," he said, taking his spot back in the grass. "Why would you envy doing something when you can do much of the same, yourself? After all, you are blessed by one of the elements of your world."

"Were you? That is pretty amazing. If we ever get the chance to go and find flowers on another world, we should totally do it! I never did get to have much time with them, considering where I lived, but I did get to see quite a few in the Earth Kingdom."

And Kaya had no problem gently petting Fontaine as she continued her conversation with Nokosi: the wolf was definitely comforting, and Zhin pretty much considered Fontaine an equal to Toothless.

"Don't get me wrong, I love waterbending: its freeing and amazing, I can't get enough. But now that we've been on the ship so long, I feel sad I didn't spend more time outside. I miss it: the grass underneath my feet, the way the birds sing. I guess its just the nostalgia talking."

"Indeed--I think I would like to see what potions or elixirs I would be able to make with some of the herbs and such on the planets we might visit."

Fontaine let out an approving 'purr' that sounded much more like a motor running.

"I can understand that feeling well, though even more, being on this ship with no real 'day' or 'night' has managed to wreck havoc on my biological clock. I cannot tell time, all the hours just roll into the next. The words 'a day' have little meaning here..." He actually looked worried, here. It seemed to be something that bothered him constantly.

"Before I was used to sleeping late into the day and doing everything in the evening and late into the morning. It is the one thing about this ship that I absolutely hate."

If he could tell time, he knew there were times were he'd spend days worth of time not sleeping and eventually just fell into an exhausted sleep. On the opposite, there were times where he would sleep hours and hours at a time.

"See, that would be one of the things I'm slightly envious about," Kaya said. "I don't have the head for that sort of thing at all: Katara might have, a little, but that is lost to me. I'd love to see you at work mixing things together."

Kaya smiled at Fontaine and continued petting. He seemed like the perfect companion for someone like Nokosi.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I fee pretty frazzled about it myself sometimes: its why I have a tendency to throw myself into something like training in the first place, because I don't know when else I'm going to have time to do it. I like to swim, have time with my friends, I have to seep, I have to eat, I have to do rounds in the medical bay: it can get pretty frenzied."

And the way Nokosi looked, she really wished there was a way she could help him with his problem. It seemed to genuinely concern him that there was no way for him to resolve his sleeping and working habits.

"How could we accurately start to take record of time anyway?"

"It is a very enjoyable hobby! As far as telling time, though...Splicer told me that I would have to make an 'archaic clock', whatever that is. It makes me wonder, though, if it is not just that timepieces do not work in the Bleed, but only that time is skewed there."

Nokosi spent only a few fleeting moments mulling over the thought before he banished it away. With a yawn mirroring Fontaine's, he stretched his limbs and slowly pushed himself up from the ground.

"Well, perhaps we should go see the rest of the rooms before I decide to take a nap here," he said, reaching a hand down at Kaya to help her up.

Kaya had never thought of that. "That's a pretty creepy thought, but then, I wonder how that affects US. I mean, It feels like a very long time has passed since I've been on the ship, but maybe it really hasn't been that long in terms where someone else might have measured time."

Who knew, really.

Kaya took his hand and brought herself up. "Yes, good idea: I was starting to get pretty tired myself. Let's pop on over to Hay Lin's room."

"Oh well," he said with a shrug. "If we are on this ship so long that I can no longer bear it, I suppose I will have to do something about."

Once he helped her up the elf threw his hands up in a cheer. "Splendid! If they are all like this room then I think I will surely enjoy it."

It took a bit of reluctant effort for Fontaine to get up and on his feet. Once he did, however, he fell in line with the other two.

"Hmm?" That was curious. "What would you do about it? You wouldn't leave, would you?"

Well, if he could others would have done it by now, right?

They moved into the next room, and really, they couldn't have been more different. Hay Lin's room (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/elpedrososama/w90-15.jpg)was the opposite of Cornelia's room: it was obvious it was made for those affiliated for air. Kaya stuck her hands out a moment, and she hovered a few feet from the ground.

"This room is just fun, isn't it?"

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