trans_9 | It's dangerous to go alone [Open; Post-SHODAN]

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It's dangerous to go alone [Open; Post-SHODAN]

The latest disaster aboard the good ship Stacy had been a reminder to Ter'thelas that the whole damned expedition was likely doomed to failure. He'd lost no abilities, unlike a good portion of the ship's crew, and so had simply laid low in the city, occasionally cracking a robotic opponent over the head or blasting it into pieces with a firearm. At the same time, it seemed that it might be time for him to consider alternatives to traipsing along on this haphazard expedition.

He had a small pad of paper and a pencil and was scratching out a list that read:

Staying on the ship. Pros:

Security
Karis
the satisfaction of fighting another damned war for the greater good
possible return home.

Cons:

Constantly harried by Ohm
lunatics popping out of the ship on a regular basis
not in command of own fate
death by any number of unpleasant methods

Leaving the ship. Pros:

Security from lunatics
nice quiet life (hopefully)
getting away from the damned madness

Cons:

No Karis

alone on a strange world (again)

And this is where he'd left it. It was hardly a complete list, but he was working on it, pacing back and forth in front of the massive view ports of the space bridge and enjoying the still disorienting view. Perhaps he'd seek counsel from some of the other members of the crew, if they happened along. He sighed and leaned against the wall, reading over his list again.

Would he be able to do it?

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"Problem?"

It was simple enough to read him the moment she came into sight of him. Alendian threw back the hood of her cloak out of respect. No self decent Eldar would be rude during a conversation with something of a kinsman. Though, if he were Eldar, she wouldn't have to ask since she would be able to sense it but that wasn't the case here.

"You might say that," Ter'thelas replied, waving the pad of paper in a rather vague, non-committal motion. The Sin'dorei glanced up and down the space bridge for moment, then shrugged.

"I'm trying to decide if I should jump ship at the next port of call. I'm not too terribly keen on fighting another war, never have been. And with the rather routine way that dangerous things seem to pop up from the unknown bowels of the ship, well. . ." He shrugged again, giving his student a sort of half-smile.

"I may be safer taking my chances on a planet."

"That would be a waste."

She shook her head at the thought.

"You do not choose the war. The war chooses you. It will follow and hound you until you bring it to an end. Fate does not let you walk your own path that simply. There will simply be a whole new breed of problems if you leave. It is better to deal with the familiar."

"Yes, so much better to deal with death and war and all the damned incompetence and backstabbing amongst people who ares upposedly leading us and on our side. The war be damned." His voice is not quite as precisely calm as he would like, the inflection rising slightly alongside his annoyance.

"I suppose you know the feeling of having done nothing but fight war? The last twenty or more years of my life have been that and I am damned tired. Damned tired."

"I have been fighting for centuries. Perhaps not continuously but I have seen more fights than any human will ever see." Outcasts were frequently called to help with a war effort and with the Necrons returning from their slumber, Alaitoc had been...busy. With them, the humans, and orks, it had been a huge burden.

"Ignore those in charge. I do not follow them. Their concerns are not mine. I fight for the same things I fought for previously and for nothing else."

"As have I," he replies, lapsing into a melancholic silence for a moment.

"I grow weary of it. And wearier of fighting wars for people whose intentions I cannot discern. Why do the damned Dalgig need us if their soldiers are so much more powerful? It makes no sense, and frankly I'd rather take my chance than trust that lot."

"They are not more powerful than us. That much is simple to answer." She flipped back her hair once.

"No, I suspect we will be fighting them soon. It is better to be in a position of knowing them than not."

There was a level of persecution complex there, Alendian always being sure that anyone who isn't part of her race will be an enemy in the end.

"Rather obviously, yes." He brushed his own hair from his eyes with a quiet sigh.

"Just what I need, more betrayal and bloodshed. I suspect humans in your world have a similar history of backstabbing and gutless cowardice?" He smiled thinly. This place was starting to wear on him more than he was willing to let on.

"It happens all the time." A one-sided story but certainly in the opinion of the Eldar, all humans did was backstab.

"Either way, my point still stands. Do what you wish with yourself. Better to be among those you trust here than with no one you know elsewhere."

"The one things humans can be relied upon for is their treachery," Ter'thelas elaborates a bit further before dropping the line of conversation, shifting himself mentally to address her next line of reasoning.

"Perhaps, true. But there are only a few here I trust and the rest are incompetent buffoons or idealistic idiots. I find it hard to work with such people."

Howard's the nosy sort, which is why he walks right up to Ter'thelas and peeks at the paper. "Seriously? You left off that most of the places where Stacy drops us off have some kind of killer animal out there."

"Killer animals I have dealt with in my time. I'm not terribly concerned with local wildlife as I plan to settle somewhere civilized." He glances at Howard with a snooty little sniff. Of course he'd though of that.

"Howard, I believe?"

"Oh, because the civilized places always turn out awesome around here. Remember Galilee?"

He nods. "I'm calling you Spock, for the record."

"Oh come now, it wasn't all that bad unless you were a clone. I rather enjoyed our stay there. Except for the whole bombing and trying to murder us on everyone's part." Ter'thelas chuckled dryly, a bit of caustic humor returning to him.

"I've not the faintest idea who this Spock you're referencing is, but I suppose that it will do as a nickname." He's used to Karis, remember?

"I guess you're right. It's only a hop and a skip away from our lives now, where the Ohm try to kill us and the Daligig tell us we can't keep their ship from torturing us." Yay, cynicism-off. He's happy to find that Ter has a sense of humor, at least.

"Pointy ears. That's really all you need to know." He points to the paper. "You're seriously considering sticking around for Karis?"

"Oh, yes. If I wanted to live in a state where i was told what to think I'd have stayed home." He shakes his head. Oh, Silvermoon, you proto-fascist state you.

"Well, they are rather more pointed than those stubby things you call ears, yes." He taps a finger against his chin.

"And yes. She's a rather dear friend to me, if you can believe it."

"No kidding. Just be careful when and where you bail, if you do." And though he doesn't know Ter'thelas, the fleeting possibility of tagging along and not having to go back to the FAYZ has occurred to him.

"Huh. I didn't know Fangs had it in her to make dear friends. Does she know she's your dear friend?"

"Oh, yes. We've been through quite a lot together. Surprised she hasn't mentioned me to you, honestly. She's saved my life, I've saved her. . .unlife, I guess? In any case, we're what you might term comrades." Ter'thelas smiles obviously recalling some rather interesting times.

"Normally Fangs and me don't talk about friends. We talk about..." What do they talk about, besides their shared misanthropy? "Cannibalism and why she needs to get me drunk and stuff. Didn't realize she had other breather friends is all. She's kind of tetchy about us."

"She doesn't have many. I am privileged to be among them. She is one of my few remaining friends whom I would trust with my life. And she has good reason to. Has she ever told you about the circumstances regarding her condition?" He cocks his head to one side, considering Howard with a small, enigmatic smile.

"That's so...sappy. And not like Fangs at all. Are you like yin and yang?" He makes a little two-fingered gesture. "I've picked up bits and pieces."

"Yin and yang? Not familiar with them, I'm afraid." He rolls a shoulder.

"She died rather horribly and was a mind slave for a good couple of years before being freed and finding herself a monster rejected by all that she once held dear. I think it a mercy she hadn't had to meet her old family again until recently." He scratched at his chin.

"She is a member of a dwindling group of close-knit, mostly psychotic survivors, if you can call them that, who either generally hated, distrusted, and despised in varying degrees by everyone else in the world. They are allies of, at best, convenience of the Horde. Frankly, she live sin a world where everyone with a pulse hates her and wants her dead at worst or tolerates her at best. With a few exceptions."

"It's like two halves that are opposites. Here, let me show you." He pulls out his notepad and draws it out while Ter'thelas is talking.

"Huh. That pretty much puts it all into place, doesn't it?" He didn't know about the mind slave bit. Creepy. Not unlike things that happened back home. "And somehow she decided that I was cool because I like the taste of liver."

"Hm. An interesting philosophical idea, but no. We are not exactly opposites, not in the least." He rubs his chin, shrugs.

"As prickly as she is, I think she really does crave friends. And I think that she has a hard time with herself. Of course, that's only my opinion as an outsider. What her true feelings are, I couldn't say."

"No, I get that, although gotta say, you're way more formal than she is."

He nods but doesn't comment on Ter's assessment of Karis, mostly because it's not entirely inapplicable to his own attitude. "So what do you do around here besides talk about leaving?"

"I had the benefit of a proper education, service as an officer, and I am the last scion of my noble house. That means everyone else is dead, by the by." Ter'thelas chuckled quietly.

"I am an expert in not being found when I don't wish to be, a master swordsman, a passable marksman, and a layabout. In no particular order."

Man, it's always creepy when people laugh about death. Even though Howard tends to do it himself a lot. He does narrow his eyes slightly, in interest, when Ter'thelas explains all his capabilities.

"Not dead because of you, I'm guessing?"

"No. Dead because of that rather unfortunate undead horde that Karis served as a member of. She took part in the sack and destruction of my homeland and helped wipe out the vast majority of my people." He smiles slightly. It is a thin, unpleasant expression.

"I bear her no grudge. She had no choice in the matter."

"That's so....rational." That creepy smile makes Howard want to squirm a little. Something about Ter strikes him as so threatening, so detached from matters of life or death. "Are you guys the only ones from your world? I thought that one green elf chick might've been."

"It is the truth. And besides that, she has saved my life many times." Ter'thelas' voice edges towards anger and away from the faint arrogant detachment it usually implies. It annoys him that this young human questions the relationship he has with Karis. But he holds back the irrational spike of anger. He's ignorant, nothing more.

"There are others. We don't associate with them much, however. They are either mad or opposed to us in some fashion, at least they would be if we were on Azeroth."

Howard takes a discreet little step back, just out of striking range. "Fine, I get it, you're brothers in arms and all."

He shrugs. "I feel you. The people who showed up from my world are the same way. It's kind of a buzzkill."

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It's dangerous to go alone [Open; Post-SHODAN]

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Now with twice the correct accounts.

I SAW NOTHING

Damn right. >_>

Re: Damn right. >_>

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