trans_9 | That melt into spring [Open]

Entry tags:

That melt into spring [Open]

Zouchi stood by the blue-green waters of Faron Spring, eyes tracing the old, intricate patterns that covered the surfaces of the rocks nearby. The weather in this part of the City was a little cooler than usual, but he felt no discomfort; it was still well within his operational tolerances.

As he waited there, almost entirely still, a light rain began to fall from the sky. Artificial rain, of course, for an artificial city, but it was cool against his face and good for the plants. Zouichi closed his eyes for a moment; when he reopened them, the rain was still there... but it was accompanied by something else. Silvery numeric annotations swam through his vision, attached to each drop of water, too fast and too numerous for an untrained observer to make sense of. Speed calculations, trajectory and force projections. Each droplet of rain was a variable, a world of controlled chaos.

Some disappeared into the soft grass; others dropped onto the surface of the spring, sending up a cascade of secondary equations as it cast ripples across the surface of the water.

When it was time for battle, these same quicksilver calculations would help guide him in action: they'd show him the best way to destroy, the swiftest way to kill. But for now, there was no need to bend them to that purpose. Instead, he watched as they fell like phantoms through the sky.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She turned her head, the opening of her hood pointing over to Zouichi. Already on edge waiting for him to say something, it was a quick action that happened as soon as he spoke up. "What is it?"

"That Templar had a lot to say, not just about the Eldar, but about humanity and other races in your universe. I assume not all of them are true, but I'd appreciate knowing which are and which aren't. For example, the Tau eat their human allies... and the Eldar spent about 30,000 years trying to annihilate or enslave humans."

For once, she was caught with an open smile on her face. That was all fairly hilarious and what made it even better was that the human actually believed all that.

"The Tau? I know little about them because they are not a bother to us. As far as I am aware, some Farseers and others on the Seer Council think they are a decent species, unlike the mon-keigh. Either way, that sounds like propaganda created by the servants of the corpse god."

She shook her head at the second part. That was something rather touchy.

"The Eldar from ten thousand years ago and the Eldar of today are two entirely different people. 30,000 years ago....no, that would not true. We did not care about humans as they had not even discovered how to leave their own planetary system. Twenty thousand years ago, they expanded wildly and the Eldar treated them with caution. But humans...they were effective at breaking their own promises in their need to expand. What they couldn't have freely, they took with force."

Alendian left it there for the time being. As far as she was concerned, the question was answered and there was no need to expound further.

Ha ha, it's hilarious when the other side thinks you eat babies or something. Not that Zouichi was unfamiliar with the idea of propaganda. Human leaders had relied heavily upon it throughout history to control their subjects. And expansionism? Also a bit of a recurring theme. In fact, it was by appealing to the human need to be better than everyone else -- the willingness to believe they were entitled to subjugate those that were 'lesser' -- that had led to some of the darkest periods of human history.

For the member of an elegant, refined species like the Eldar were supposed to be, though, Alendian sure could have the subtlety of a jackhammer.

"What promises are we talking about? He made it sound more like it was the Eldar who betrayed the humans, and not the other way around."

She shrugged, most of the details lost to history. "We did nothing to betray them. You wish to discuss slavery? Yes, our pirates and raiders have enslaved humans and still do. It is what pirates do. Their pirates do the same. But betrayal...we gave them warning of a great catastrophe in the making and what did they do? Mercilessly attack us. Ever since their Emperor came into power, they have only had one goal. Kill all non-humans. That is why that dog of their corpse god thinks the same."

Zouichi was not thrilled to hear that, Alendian. Even if humanity couldn't exactly cast stones; trafficking in live men and women was practically a human tradition. "A catastrophe?" This was the first time he'd heard this mentioned.

But at the last of her words, he frowned. "For that, I can only apologize. I don't know what happened in the history of your world, but if what you say is true, the actions of humanity were unjust and inexcusable."

As far as he was concerned, it didn't matter if the Eldar had betrayed mankind. How could one betrayal justify the killing of an entire species? Were civilians to be held responsible for the actions of their leaders? Were children?

"You want to know about the catastrophe? Ask the human about what they call Horus' Heresy. He will give you a better story than me since I could care less." Oh, but the things she learned when trading and trying not to chat with humans during her day as a ranger.

Her eyes did lose a little aggression though when the next part came up. "Do not ask me about Eldar history in that time. If the Farseer wishes for you to know, she will tell you but I will not be the one to do so."

Zouichi raised an eyebrow. "Better learning the story from a biased human? Well, if you say so." Apparently, hanging out with humans hadn't improved her outlook on them.

He shrugged. "It's not as though I'll ever be able to do anything with the information, since I'm not from your world. But all right. If I may ask, what are you doing out in the rain?"

Alendian shrugged in reply. "It is a story about civil war amongst the humans that affected every race in the galaxy. There are no unbiased tellings of that. He will even go as far to say that they are still fighting that same war 10,000 years later."

There was a comment about how knowledge could be dangerous on her lips but it dropped off at the last question. "Thinking. Wondering if my path as a warrior is proper for the current situation."

What? Knowledge, dangerous? Nonsense. Zouichi had to know everything, okay?

He blinked. "And if it's not?"

"Normally, once one feels their path is complete, they follow another path. While I am far from feeling complete, I still am left with doubts. These concerns must be expressed to someone who understands, however." Which as another Eldar. Sorry, Zouichi.

Too bad, Alendian. Ildraniath already explained the Path thing to him. What now. "I see. Well, I suppose if I suddenly find you composing poetry, I'll know why."

A slight pause. "Worried you'll try and stab another Templar?"

She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "That is for others. If I were to ever take another path, I would choose to be an outcast again." With Alendian, she always had to be in trouble somehow.

"Yes, I reacted far to harshly. That is dangerous to myself."

You were allowed to do the same thing over again? Who knew?

"Not to mention to other people. So you think being an outcast would give you better control?"

"No. It would simply keep me away from others." Don't enable it, Zouichi.

He gave her a puzzled look. "How far away are you expecting to get on this ship? Either way, you're bound to run into the crew sometime."

Like wouldn't it be better to learn how to control your anger

Well

wouldn't it

An Eldar controlling their emotions. Never happening.

"With the proper equipment, I could render myself impossible to find. I am sure you will be wondering if you could test that."

"I'd probably be interested to see how it works," Zouichi admitted. "Can you blame me?"

"No, I do not blame you." She pointed a finger at Zouichi. "That does not mean I am against it either. Allow me to know when you are free next time."

Well, that was a surprise. "I will. How much time do you need?"

"A day at most." Enough to grab the proper equipment and that was it.

"All right. It's a... I'll see you there."

Alien stealth technology. This should prove quite interesting.

Eldar stealth technology. Best in the universe, according to the Eldar. "Of course."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That melt into spring [Open]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject