locked to meridian + ota

[warmare]

[Hayame had plenty to say about this disgraceful farce the moment she had regained consciousness... But she waited. She waited, so that her emotions would be as locked down and as under control as she could manage. Until only harsh anger and the burn of judgement come through- at least, for now.

First, she addresses only Meridian.]

I hope you are proud of yourself.

Those of you who have been too weak to commit properly to this cause, content to let those with drive and will do the winning of Oracles on your and your world's behalf.

Those of you who claim allegiance to Meridian but have been content to play "neutral" and hide like a weak little bug in the shadow of those more powerful than you.

Those of you who could not draw a single line in the sand and loved playing friend or whore too much to break off relations with people working to ensure that the lives of everyone in your world are snuffed out permanently.

Those of you who have refused to shatter the shards of our enemies, whining about the sanctity of a soul, even though that is the only way to kill someone properly in this twisted world.

Mourn that sun goddess for the power she possessed that our faction has lost. Mourn the kindness she showed you, if you so wish. But I will impart a lesson unto you- If someone is kind to everyone, then their kindness means absolutely nothing. That empty-headed fool of a woman had her shard shattered by the very man whose shard she protected, after I and another killed him in the labyrinth of the Harbinger Oracle trial. If she had given that foul thing back to us so that I might crush it beneath my hoof, then she would be alive today.

That is what kindness of that nature will reap you. A disgraceful public execution at the hands of a wizened, corpse-gnawing gaki barely managing the veneer of a man.

If you wish to dedicate yourself further to the actual cause you claim to serve, or if you wish to train and empower yourself, I will gladly help you. It would be my honor.

But if your plan is to continue living the sort of shameful existence that helped allow for the assassination of Springstar's Tribune at his own godsdamned home, then either purge yourself of that treacherous weakness... or I will try to find the time in my days to do it for you.

[Maybe this is where she could stop, take a breath... But she does not. The rest, cold and hateful and roiling with anger, is said to everyone, Zenite and Unharmonized alike.]

To all those who still claim allegiance to Zenith... I will not waste breath trying to convince you of anything at all, let alone now, after what your faction has wrought upon countless innocents. Whether you are a poor thing who would abandon every life in your world simply because you were treated badly, whether you are a pathetic thing who cannot muster the will to hope for anything but that sacred bitch on high and a committee of degenerates making a new world for you to exist in, or whether you are a sick thing who delights in watching worlds burn and people die... I, Hayame of Echigo, do not care, and I will not show mercy to one any more than the other.

Unlike, it seems, the many dishonorable among you, I say this to you plainly and clearly.

I will disable you if I see you step foot in Springstar.

I will hunt down your cornerstones and smash them to pieces.

And I will kill you if you put yourself between me and the possibility of returning to my world and my duty.




... Ah, yes. To those of you who have still not chosen a side, even after seeing what has occurred this moon... My advice to you is to stay Unharmonized, to pick up a hoe, and to go tend crops in Alenroux. You obviously lack the determination required for this conflict... and the people require food. Go on.

If you need a recommendation for a farmer looking for labor, I know plenty. Do you fancy turnips, or buckwheat?

Comments

[fursuit]

[ Even in the disconnected space of Communion where it’s more emotion and less body, it’s easy to just feel the way that Tezcatlipoca grins as she speaks. It’s mean and almost cruel, but that’s just the way his smile tilts when a conversation dips into his domain. Tezcatlipoca is affable and he has a playful side to him, but he couldn’t be more different from Quetzalcoatl. He’s not a kind god. ]

See, here’s the thing, Hayame of Echigo. [ It’s half a name and a title, half a nickname, so it’s what she’ll be to him until his whims take him elsewhere. ] You’re spot on with callin’ Meridian a favored meal. That’s all it is. Allegiances don’t mean a thing to a god, because winner or loser, every participant is only fuel for the fire. You might not die if you’re lucky, but who you were before will be sacrificed to it. That’s all it means. It’s all I want.

[ He doesn’t elaborate further because he sees no need, but there’s a nuance in the two gods that each side now possesses in his explanation. Set is war. He wants a winner, a loser, and he’s competitive in his bloodshed. Tezcatlipoca, on the other hand, is conflict. He feels no particular care towards one outcome or the other. It’s only that blood is shed that matters. ]

—But if you want to think of it in simpler terms? Hell yeah I’m your enemy. Even if I went Meridian, I’d only be restoring my world to have it wiped clean by my own efforts. This whole deal just saved me some of the work.

[warmare]

I do not care what you want.

[The response is simple, and harsh. Tezcatlipoca's impression in Communion is smiling, but hers... She couches her true desires and how she truly wants to handle these issues in the blizzard. That is why she waited this long to say anything. If she had not...

Her teeth would already have been bared at his throat, god or not. With the exception she had made for Set, that day that seems so long ago now, because she wanted his blessing, his power, to return to her world... Hayame did not "believe" in gods.

After all, none had ever answered the prayers of a jinba in her world.]

You wish to flit around indulging in your impulses and selfish desires [and "weed" apparently?] instead of committing to anything, working for anything, devoting yourself to anything that involves truly choosing a side and accepting the consequences of doing such if they will come?

[Is this all about Tezcatlipoca still? ANYway-]

People like you disgust me.

[fursuit]

[ The annoying thing about gods is that they’re shrewd. It presents itself in different ways, since Quetzlacoatl’s was certainly different from Tezcatlipoca’s, but it’s trouble all the same. He picks up the hidden grievance in her words, and he laughs at it. ]

Yeah, this ain’t just about me, is it?

[ Her blizzard keeps him at bay enough, since it’s truly not his natural habitat. There are few places in his lands that would even be touched by snow at all, much less a blizzard. But still, the smoke slips closer like a big cat stalking through the brush. ]

I get it, though. You got a warrior’s spirit. So all the playin’ nice has to really rub ya the wrong way. You want to cut off your enemies’ heads and leave ‘em to rot. Things were easier back home, right?

[ He cuts right to it, but it’s not any special knowledge. He just truly looks after warriors. He knows how they think. How frustrating Kenos would be to them. Izcalli would definitely be driving himself mad already, for example. He can only imagine how stifling it must be for someone that’s been here a while, he’s guessing. ]

Careful who you get preachy at, warrior. My mind doesn’t work like yours. If you think I ain’t devoted, then you can go ahead and forfeit your heart now.

[warmare]

[How about no fuckin comment? Get snow pelted. And watch the stalking, or she's gonna take the communion!bow out.]

I will not leave them. I will display them on the Cornerstone to Highstorm with their crimes written beneath so that all can see that the time has finally come to stop playing friends with those who fight to kill every soul in our worlds and deny us our homes.

[................................. Yeah, it's frustrating. Of course it fucking rubs her the wrong way.]

I do not care if you are devoted to yourself, or your own goals. That sort of devotion is something a boy can do before he even cuts his hair and shaves his pate.

Do not come here and think that you can scare me with your warnings. Every "god" here in this place is just as mortal as I am now. Perhaps you are the one who should be careful.

1/2

[fursuit]

[ Tezcatlipoca’s reaction absolutely isn’t one she’s going to like. In the face of her strong words and her own threats, he just laughs. It’s big and uproarious, but there’s not offense or anger in it. He still seems just as thrilled as he had at the start of the conversation. ]

Ha, some real psycho shit, even better! No wonder you’re so pissed off, if that’s how you roll. That’s old school! I, for one, welcome it! That’s how a war should be!

[ …Gods, man. Or more specifically, gods of war and conflict. It’s a moment where the fact that Set had thrown his weight in with Meridian can probably be appreciated by comparison, since having one on the opposite side gets, well. This. ]

[fursuit]

[ But his laughter cools, and his attention becomes more sharp and serious. He has the joyous flippancy of just enjoying the sheer chaos and viciousness that comes in war, but when it comes to that last part, well. It’d be disrespectful to not take it seriously. It’s not a pleasant feeling, though. His attention when given seriously is intense. It’s even reflected in how his language gets more formal. ]

I wasn’t trying to scare you. You can consider it fair warning if you’d prefer. You may not accept my attention, but your soul is precisely the kind that I have dominion over. One day, you might settle at my campfire again.

[ His words sound like a riddle, and maybe they are. He’s a trickster god that can never say sincere things in a straightforward way. A warrior’s heart is a blessing and a curse, and that’s why he’s always there in the end to offer them their final reprieve and comfort before they begin their final journey.

…Or was, he guesses. Who knows here. He hasn’t felt the pull yet of someone needing that kind of service, so it remains to be seen.

As is, though, it just feels like he grins in Communion. It’s toothy and feline in nature, but not viciously joyous like his laughter. ]

But until then, I’ll look forward to testing your skill, warrior. I’ll overlook your disrespect because you don’t know any better. But you’ll learn when we meet in battle.

[warmare]

[This so-called god may be laughing, but Hayame is not. She isn't impressed or disturbed by it either, more so than she would be seeing a mentally unwell man rambling to himself on the street, but it will be apparent that...

It's not "psycho shit". Not to her. It is genuinely what she was raised to think was the normal thing to do with one's enemies. She had practiced on rotting melons as a filly, trying to perfect the way she might one day present a head to her lord after battle. The smell of the fruit did not compare to what it had felt like to actually cut off a head. She had not enjoyed it. (She had been sick after, the first time.) She does not revel in violence.

But she is very, very willing to rely on it, resort to it, and commit it to accomplish what needed to be done.

And as far as she's concerned, there might be a psycho here but it sure isn't her.]

No god has ever answered the prayer of a jinba in my world.

So wait an eternity if you wish, but I will never grace your "campfire".

Since you have chosen Zenith as your little playground, the only way we will meet is on the battlefield.

You can taste my disrespect in person then.

[fursuit]

…Yeah. Hope you don’t have to find out one way or the other.

[ There’s a feeling like he’s stretching, as languid and easy as a housecat, but there is a note of somberness to it. It’s something he actively tries to push down, because why does he give a shit that her prayers weren’t answered? None of his business. Clearly, she might as well have lived on a different planet at the height of his power. Still, though… ]

Pretty shit that you missed your gods, assuming “jinba” is what you are. Too bad the Age of Gods had long since bast by the time you’re around, at least I’m assumin’.

[ He knows she won’t understand half of what he says here. She doesn’t need to. ]

But, yeah! I’ll look forward to a proper fight either way, warrior. I’ll treat you with respect. [ He seems to seriously mean it, and yet. Arrogantly, he adds: ] You ain’t gonna win, of course. I’m the Lord of the near and nigh. But I won’t do you dirty by just ignorin’ your prowess.

[warmare]

[She doesn't bother trying to understand what he's saying.

All she adds before she "leaves" is,]

Then I shall make myself the Lord of showing arrogant self-proclaimed gods that in this world, they bleed just as easily as anyone.