Welcome to Gaia! ::

Camelot had not expected the night to be going so poorly. It was raining, a dreary, ice cold rain that weighed his armor down miserably. He had not found any youma, but he did stumble on a woman screaming for help, and two thugs muscling her into an alley. Typical bad guy behavior that was sometimes hard to notice when one was focusing on powered villains and creatures that wanted to eat energy and starseeds. There were so many worries in this city, it seemed upsetting and sad that people were still hurting each other, as well. But it was a fact of life. He leaped down into the alley from the roof to defend the woman from her attackers, and was immediately mocked for his outfit. If he had a dime for every time that happened. Usually, though, his appearance threw people off enough to make them stop what they were doing. But not this time. One of the thugs had his gun up and ready, pointing at Camelot, while the other held the girl tightly against her will, tears streaming down her face.

Zinkenite's presence could not have gone unnoticed even if he had wished it to be. It was only by grace of the ambiguous nature of his aura of power that he was sure he was granted any 'peace' from the senshi, and knights. Some of whom thought that they could surely kill him if only they had sufficient element of surprise or tenacity. The screams had drawn his attention, he wondered the cause because he had felt only oder, and while it might have amused him to see someone screaming at the sight of a Senshi he saw only a familiar 'armor' and 'earth' sigil drapery of Camelot. His eyes narrowed for a moment in residual irritation but it faded again almost as quickly. More interesting things were certainly afoot, the glint of light off the metal of the gun made his heart skip. Regardless of his rank there were many things that could have put a swift end to him, he was certain guns still ranked among them. He didn't care for what he thought the men had in mind for the woman either, but he hesitated none the less, the side of order wanted to play the flashier side of heroism didn't it? He shifted his footing none the less perching and staring down upon them like some dark vigilante yet unoticed.

Camelot reacted to the woman screaming, and tried to get around the guy in front of him to get to her. Maybe it was bad of him, underestimating his opponent so acutely, but he made that mistake easily. It was a hard lesson to learn, but when he heard the report of a gun echoing through the alley he realized that no enemy, regardless of what power they had, what weapon they carried, was harmless. He felt his side burn, his chain mail slowing but not stopping the bullet as it pierced his flesh. The shock of it made his leg on that side give out, and he fell to the ground hard, feeling an oppressive air of chaos around him that baffled his immediately addled mind as he hit the ground, shoving his arms under himself to try and get back to his feet. His body disagreed with his intentions, flopping over to see a barrel of a gun in his face, and the shooter's grinning face just beyond it. This was not going how he intended it to. This was probably the reason knights had died out in this day and age, and Camelot was easily falling victim to it. He had never felt old fashioned before, no matter how many times he was mocked for being old.

In another universe, it might have been Batman who's cape made the snap sound of cloth in the wind as he descended from the roof. There was no such masked vigilante in this world though, there was only Chaos and Order, and for now, Zinkenite. Light fingers touched the would be shooter and his eyes rolled back before he topped soundlessly to the ground with Zinkenite catching at his wrist and twisting with a sickening pop to turn the hand and pistol towards the man's would be companion. He tilted his head, arching an eyebrow wordlessly, expectant as the man spouted threats about the woman only to stammer, stutter his words and then drop in a senseless heap as Zinkenite called the small softly glowing pearls of energy to his hand. "...I think you'd be safest going now." He said to the woman stepping back to conceal the better part of himself in a shadow and let her pass.

The woman ran from the alley. She had never been so confused about anything in her life. Strange people dropping in from no where, on top of being attacked by mean thugs. She didnt know if she had just seen people die, but she didn't care at the moment. She just wanted to get out of there, and pretend none of it had happened at all. She has a husband to cry to, and a baby to hug. She had a life to live. She ran off, and Camelot watched her go. He had leaned against the wall, holding his hand over his side, and was now looking at Zinkenite in surprise and wonder. Things had certainly changed since the last time they met. "Wh... why did you save me?" he asked, pained, "why did you save her?" Camelot imagined he could have just drained all of them. "Are you going to take my starseed now?"

Zinkenite rolled his eyes skyward and grabbed at the long hem of his coat before tearing off a wide swatch of deep indigo and cerulean smoke designs and handing it to you almost mutely. "You won't be able to just take that to a doctor, staunch it and then I'd learn to do some rudimentary home doctor." It answered none of the questions addressed to him, though there was perhaps an offended undertone to the words. "You people of Order, you always assume that Chaos is just another word for 'Evil', I wonder if that's a personal view or something that stems from your very nature." He said softly.

Camelot looked surprised, then moved to take the cloth with a shaking hand. He pressed it to the wound, grimacing painfully as he did so. He swallowed hard, and wondered if the shaking was from shock or fear. "You can hardly talk, you call everyone 'Order' like we're the same. I don't think you're evil, but how else can you explain Chaos itself?" He groaned and sat up a bit more, looking at the Negaverse soldier, taking him in. He shuddered. "I know you're not evil... you... you wouldn't have helped me... but why did you? You saved my life, but we're enemies." He was asking, but he knew he would do the same thing. He had done the same thing, with other chaos agents. It was just surprising that someone corrupted would do something like that. Maybe he was making all the wrong assumptions about them.

Zinkenite gave a small laugh "No, I talk of most of you like you're the same, there are a handful of you whom I have appreciation for, some even I wish to see turn 'Princess'." he waved a hand "But that is a respect reserved for those who don't preach that we are out to turn everyone into souless monsters, and those whom I still have some -sliver- of hope that they might listen rather than simply preach. Bad enough I've needed to become somewhat fond of the sound of my own voice... I don't need to listen to the judgement of teenage girls who's largest concern before they became senshi was the color of their eyeliner." He tilted his head skyward for a moment and sighed. "Enemy, Order, Chaos, that's the nature of the whole damned universe. Order is destined to dissolve into chaos, or entropy if you want a prettier word for it, and the greater entropy becomes chaos theory alone dictates that order will again rise out of chaos. I don't think that's coincidence." He shook his head and then continued. "We are as capable of what the general populous would call good as Order is of evil, Aliens in human bodies or not, reborn souls abounding or not we are our actions more than the side of this war that we have fallen on aren't we? At least now, though I realize you can't see it the Dark Kingdom has changed, new leaders for better or worse, new methods, new plans though I won't tell you them. I may have been dragged into this life but don't expect me to be giving power to unwilling and unwitting civilians left and right."

Camelot held the cloth to his bleeding wound, watching Zink as he spoke at length. He didn't interrupt, though, watching and trying to understand. That was what he had been failing to do recently. Caught up in his growing strength and skill, he had almost let himself forget what it truly meant to be a Knight. To serve those that needed him. He was meant to end this war, but he would not do that by alienating either side. He served them both, them all. The war was the enemy, not Chaos, not the Negaverse. Not alone. "Chaos is not so omnipotent, not so wholly important in the working of the world. Chaos and Order bring balance. Chaos and Order bring life. Creating more soldiers is not the answer: awakening more teenagers, children, pushing chaos into starseeds or sparking some sleeping soul inside them. This planet is ours now. Chaos and Order have to exist together, or no one will be able to live here, don't you see that?" He drew a pained breath, pressing down harder on his side.

"That's rather just the point though isn't it, replace what you just said of Chaos and use the word Order, Order is not omnipotent, Order is not the only vital thing, we need each other, but let's speak to the cats of awakening Kindergartners, let's speak to your royalty who swear that Lina was the only one worth saving, and while I agree she is beyond words in her value, he cheapened her and all of us with those words. A princess not content to rule her own planet seeks to woo and marry an earth prince, seeks to return again and defeat all chaos, what then will happen if the world is nothing but order? Teenagers and 'Children' at least we're not robbing the cradle, at least many of us are young adults and have made the choice. I've been expounding speaking to each other for some time and all it's done is nearly cost me my life. I'm no longer certain we are capable of 'not fighting, but I don't believe that Order will listen until they come face to face with some kind of consaquence that they are unable to blame us for.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, "that's your problem. You take these individual happenings and apply them to all of us, no matter who we are or what we're fighting for. I had nothing to do with any of those things, and they no more impact me than a random civilian on the street. I don't control who awakens around me, who the cats pick or why, or why the knights get their weapons. You're different. You pick your soldiers. And you know some don't pick with care. You would take anyone who asked. They're children, too. just because they're not in elementary school doesn't mean they're not kids too. You're just a kid." He grunted, struggling to get to his feet. his head was spinning and he felt very wobbly. "We are talking in circles. We have facts. Senshi have done terrible things. You have done good things. And of course, the other way around. I've made mistakes, but I will not stop. If I have to drive both chaos and order magic off this planet to bring it peace, and to allow us all to live, I will do it. But I don't want to hurt anyone..."

"And the adults in this war are so wise, assessing as though I am responsible for drawing each new face into the negaverse and then denying that same 'mass culpability' from being applied to order. No one has a gun held to the head of your cats and tells them they MUST waken eight year olds, no one makes those eight year olds go out with the intent to not save, but kill. No one tells your now Errant Prince that the only person he should consider worth saving is the one he wants to sleep with and the rest of us "Must" die because we are "NOT worth the effort", you say I'd take anyone who asked but you say that as though you know... you don't, any more than I can reach out and point to some civilian and say 'That one is a Knight'. You say you'd don't want to 'hurt' anyone but you're happy enough to do it with words. Words are just as vital in this war as deeds, words are to be listened to...unless you know Sailor Gunn, then I'd just find a fire extinguisher before she sets the building on fire and damn the consiquences." the last part was apparently a joke but he shook his head and laughed about something different. "Talking in circles...how ironic." He said and sketched into the alley filth with the toe of his boot, a circle divided by an S.

Camelot leaned on the wall, looking a little pale. "I don't know how cats awaken people. I don't know if they pick them, or if the kids pick the cat. I'm a Knight, not a senshi. You need to understand that. My power was given to me by some force that has no name that I know of, a weapon appearing out of no where in front of me and suddenly everything about my life changed. That's all I know about that. I serve no prince, or princess on ideals alone, but I do serve anyone that needs me. Anyone with lives to protect. The truth remains that the people threatening those lives are aligned with Chaos. that's the nature of this war. Again, I am not the people responsible for your bad experiences, and I have no idea what you're going on about. And honestly, I don't care to know. Dwelling on what justifies the fighting isn't what we need to do. We need to find a way to end it. We can do it together or in our own ways: but the latter will mean we'll be enemies. And we'll be crossing paths a lot." He shook his head, "my words aren't meant to hurt, they're meant to illuminate, just like yours are. I can see you now, more for who you are than before. I understand better... what's that?" he looked at the circle.

"Not true, not all those threatening lives are on our side, you may repeat all you want that mantra but it will never be so simple. I think that's the problem with this war... it's simple and at the same time it can never be simple." He waved his hand at the design and said softly. "The simplest and yet most complex design, the yin yang. The concept is simple but there will always be the question of the nature. It's Man and Woman, good and evil, light and dark, fire and water and so on and so forth. I have no way to prove it, I don't think even order can but I've... seen." He paused, something heavy about the words that made his shoulders sag for a moment. "I have seen the darkest that chaos has to offer and walked away thanks to a compassion I have not yet seen from Order, I still hope to, but I wonder that it will ever be so unbiased or self sacrificing. Even Love is selfish, but she..." He waved a hand, dismissive, uncomfortable. "Some things leave scars too great to be understood by any who don't share them." he said softly. "If you ever posess such a princess, such a royal or such a Knight even I might kneel to them.

"One doesn't need to be royal to demand respect, to demand love and to be cherished. All lives are worthy, in their way, and everyone should have the chance to live... normally. This war... it's wearing on all of us. All I want to do is the impossible. All I want to do is end it. I know I make mistakes, judgements, but I can only go by what I see just like you can. We're not so different, you and I. I've seen terrible things. I've seen what Chaos can do, and I've stood against it. I've lost to it. But I've seen the darkness that Order can stir. A ying yang isn't white on one side and dark on the other. They share parts of the other side," he moved to add the smaller circles in the larger parts of the image. "I've seen nightmares and miracles. And forces beyond both of us." He shook his head, leaning back on the wall and taking a slow breath. "There has to be more for us to do here. We're not so different, a knight and a negaverse soldier. Two sides of one coin. If one can be purified then the others can too. It means there's a middle ground we can find: between ally and enemy. We can end this war."

"One day..." He agreed with a nod. "But the question will be how, one day we can answer that too. We share parts, and we always shall." He looked thoughtful and then distant with a small smile. "hm... No, even if you earn Royalty you might loose the respect you have, or gain new hate, but Royalty is still... something to be respected of it's own accord. For better or worse there was a moment in their lives when they earned something that like it or not is above and beyond. It makes us no wiser, not better fighters either, just...stronger for whatever that means to each person."

Camelot nodded his head. "It's dangerous to keep getting stronger. You lose sight of some things, don't you? I don't know, I haven't experienced it, obviously. Chaos or Order, though. I've seen your youma queen, the one that looks like a demon. I've seen the Senshi's princesses, and how different they are. Everyone has to fight in their own way... but the deeper you get into it, the easier it is to lose sight... I did it, and I'm nothing by comparison. You've reminded me what I'm fighting for, and why. You've showed me that the how was getting warped by ideals and experience. Promise you won't forget, however strong you become..." He had to hold on to the idea that Knights and the Negaverse were capable of beckoning the balance the world needed so badly. Chaos and Order needed one another, after all. There were Senshi and the Negaverse, and those inbetween. Knights were a bridge.

"Keeping sight is hard, no matter what rank, power leads you to be dependent and arrogant though, especially if it's easy. Tanzanite, the Youma Queen as you call her, has had more taken away from her than anyone I have ever known. To loose so much of herself and yet know that she has lost it is what makes her suffer, and yet makes her who and what she is. What she is is a miracle, but never doubt her reason to hate, it has lost any chance of having borders with reason. For you're princesses I have seen little... though one day I mean to know more..." He shrugged slightly. "I will try not to forget, and I am sure you will to, but we are both shaped by our experiences, how others treat us as well as how we treat others. I'll swear no oath after all I have lost." He said softly. "And everything that the monster-queen returned to me." He glanced to the blood soaked bit of cloth. "You'll need to get that tended, drink some orange juice, one of my Lieutenants swears it helps." The tone was almost casual, almost friendly if a touch tired. "Savor you're humanity, it's too easily taken away."

He nodded his head, wondering if he might talk to Tanzanite one day. Lina had told him to stay away from her, and when he had seen a fleeting glimpse of her cruelty Tanzanite had told him he wasn't ready. He was curious about her, because a senshi told him she was beyond saving. but no one was. No one. He nodded his head at the directions, wondering how his son was going to react in finding out he had been shot. If Nathan even bothered to ask, of course. "My humanity is all I believe in. You hold on to yours, too. It makes you stronger, even when it feels like a weakness." He moved away from the wall to offer his hand to Zinkenite. It was a show of peace, maybe, though they didn't have to trust each other. They didn't have to like each other. It was a matter of respect.

A hesitation, a glance at the hand that the knight might realize went beyond any kind of lack of trust. It wasn't as though he had much to fear from an injured knight. Whatever the cause, whatever the reason, the young General-King shied from touch, a simple but profound thing. He hesitated a moment more before offering a hand, trying it seemed to look unaffected, though there was a restrained tension in his grip. "Another time, Camelot." he hesitated and then watching your face added "Please, give my regards to Lina."

Camelot noticed the hesitation, and his eyebrows lifted a bit in wonder. He smiled softly, reassuring in his way. He could never shake that paternal air, that feeling of responsibility for these younger warriors, no matter how strong they were. No matter the rank. He shook the young man's hand respectfully, holding on to it for a moment. "Be careful." He said, but it was loaded. Not just being physically careful: he didn't imagine the young man had much worry there. But considering their conversation, Camelot meant a lot more than coming to injuries.

"And you as well, I look forward to seeing your growth Camelot, wherever it may lead, I promise I will try not to bucket you again, if you'll offer the same." There might have been the hint of a smile behind the fabric mask that served at once to make him look a touch older, or perhaps only more enigmatic. "Regardless... I will be watching." There was no threat in the words, simply a statement, to whatever end it might lead.

Camelot nodded his head and smiled. He would do his best to remember to treat everyone individually. He had to base things off what he saw and what he knew, one on one. That was the only way he was going to save anyone, until he could save everyone. A lofty, impossible goal, but he had to have it. It kept him grounded, in a strange way. He nodded his head at Zink's words, leaning back against the wall. He had to get himself home, or somewhere else. Somewhere safe.