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 Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 4:04 pm
Sleepless nights meant Valhalla was loading up on caffeine during the day, which only lead to more sleepless nights. He’d left his home not too long ago, leaving Paris behind, asleep and safe away from the city that became increasingly dangerous with each passing day. The youma were fairly manageable, but when tension was high and situations exacerbated by either Chaos or Order, Valhalla felt as if any chance for peace was becoming more and more difficult to obtain.
He knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but if no one else was trying for it, too, there was little else he could do.
Valhalla didn’t like staying close to the alleys and buildings, instead seeking out the dark parks that dotted the urban jungle. It was a good place to try and sense any auras passing by, while still staying out of the way. Picking up on a Negaverse General wasn’t difficult, and while he didn’t want another encounter with the man from before, he cautiously approached anyway.
Lucky for him, it was someone he had met on several occasions before, and one he had been fairly concerned for after what Thraen had hinted just a couple weeks previous. “Wolframite,” he breathed, sounding relieved to see the young man in one piece… Or at least as whole as he’s known him to be. “I was worried…” he paused, realizing how strange that must sound, and quickly added, “I mean… I heard you were hurt…”
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 4:59 pm
He probably should have still been taking it easy, but he had pushed off patrolling for several weeks, and knew he had to not only bring in some orbs for his quota, but he had to start hunting. He only had one signature this time he was interested in, and Bismuthite knew that. They both knew that they had a target that had to be eliminated. It was a direct, personal threat, and Wolframite's both safety, and most importantly, his pride was on the line.
When he felt the signature come, he had to dismantle it to determine if it was the right one. When it wasn't, he just waited and did nothing to move as it came right for him. He readied his weapon, paranoid and feeling an unusual panic he hadn't experienced before. Worse then than ever before.
It was a relief to see Valhalla and he dismissed his weapon, taking a deep breath out. When he heard that he was worried, he was confused. "Who told you that?" The only one who could possibly gossip about that was Thraen. "Sounds like someone is boasting they killed me....or nearly did." He said, feeling himself suddenly annoyed and angry. He was a General that had been in the Negaverse for a long time, and here some senshi was running his reputation among the senshi as someone easily to kill off.
It was strange to see anyone but a Negaverser express concern, and he looked him over to see that it was, as far as he could tell, genuine. "I'm fine. I got better." He unconsciously touched his throat, remembering the noose.
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 5:14 pm
He hadn’t noticed the weapon until Wolframite dismissed it, but it had Valhalla stopping in his tracks either way, quickly holding his hands up to show he was unarmed, just in case he had startled the General. Now that it was gone, he relaxed again, wondering if it was strange not to fear for his life while in the presence of someone who’d held his life in their hands on at least one, very recent occasion.
Maybe it wasn’t strange… maybe it was just stupid. But he couldn’t help wanting trust this still young man, despite what could happen.
“No one was boasting,” he quickly denied, feeling guilty when Wolframite showed confusion as to why he would know anything about… anything. “I… asked someone I met about a scar they had… and they mentioned someone with a gunblade and someone with one eye… I’m sorry, I was hoping I was wrong in assuming it was you.” Because now… knowing that there were such violent fights still going on… it was depressing at best.
“Are you okay?” he prompted again, not entirely sure Wolframite was being honest. From what he knew of him, the General was rather prideful and probably wouldn’t admit anything if he could help it. “I wish I had healing magic… I feel like it would be a lot more useful than making people sick…”
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 5:28 pm
He looked around, relaxed when no signatures were about and took a breath. "If his name is Thraen, then that was us. Bismuthite and me. The guy has it out to kill me, and I'm trying to get him before he tries it again. He set up a rather elaborate trap at the bridge and made a rather strong noose." He went quiet, touching his throat again. "It was a very close call. One of the closest I've had in a long while."
He dropped his hand and looked over at the knight. "I lived but not without having a nice trip in the river. I'm recovering, but I'm no longer bedridden." he crossed his arms and leaned against a tree. He still felt tired despite saying to Billy that he was fine. At least his fever was gone.
"I'm looking for him now, but really I'm just out to gather some orbs." Then, due to this worry about word getting around, he looked with a bit more concern at Valhalla. "I hope you won't be repeating what I say here. I don't like the senshi doing a little smug victory dance whenever they nearly kill a General off."
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 5:41 pm
Averting his eyes like he did at Thraen’s name was probably confirmation enough that he had in fact been talking with the senshi. He couldn’t say he wanted either of the two to get hurt, much less die, but he also doubted any begging he did for them to leave the other alone would fall on deaf ears.
Just because he was on decently friendly terms with the two of them (at least in his mind), that didn’t mean either would want to listen to him.
Valhalla glanced up curiously at the mention of orbs, before his eyes widened in surprise and he quickly shook his head. “No, of course not. None of the senshi or knights I’m friends with would brag about something like that…” And if anyone ever did, he doubted he would be friends with them for much longer. Why he was trying to find Thraen now when he was still recovering, Valhalla didn’t know, but he supposed Wolframite would do his own thing, regardless of what he said.
“What do you mean… orbs…?” he went back to what Wolframite had said just previous, curious as to what he was talking about. He couldn’t recall if that was a term he’d heard of before. If anything, he was just glad Wolframite wasn’t out looking for starseeds to eat… unlike that other General…
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 6:59 pm
He looked at Valhalla, wondering if he should give out such information. To him, Valhalla was a knight, a person he wanted to side with the Negaverse since he felt they had the same goals and were on the same side, but he was still wary of him and his feelings on senshi. Sometimes he just seemed too trusting, and he wondered what information he might give to the knight might later be slipped to the enemy. Then again, by now a few senshi had to know about energy collection, and showing that they weren't going around killing people would be a good way to show that the Negaverse was not the enemy to the knights.
"Energy orbs. We collect energy. Unlike the senshi or I guess you, we need energy to continue fighting the good fight. We collect these from people in small quantities. It's perfectly harmless to the person and doesn't harm them aside from making them a little tired." He made a vague gesture with his hand. "Everyone in the Negaverse is required to do their part. Little bits helping the fuel the whole. I had to take a while off to recover and wanted to get back to pulling my weight again."
And since he gave information, he expected some in turn. "Do you have any duties that are required by you as a knight?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 5:04 am
”Oh!” Valhalla said as he realized what Wolframite was talking about. “Oh, sorry, I hadn’t heard it referred to as orbs before… just, you know… energy gathering…” he trailed off, shifting his feet as he glanced around. He felt a little stupid not realizing what the General had been talking about, especially since he could sense some hesitance from him before he answered.
As for what duties he had as a knight…? Valhalla shrugged slowly as he mumbled somewhat sheepishly, “Nothing… that I’m aware of. I mean, I guess we try to protect people, but… It doesn’t always work out…” It was difficult to protect others when they were killed right in front of you.
“About couple weeks ago… I ran into another General I’d never met before. He had bright red hair and green eyes. He… seemed only interested in taking starseeds and eating them…” he shared, lifting a hand to his own chest as he stared at empty space somewhere between himself and Wolframite for a few moments, before curious golden eyes lifted to the other’s face.
“Is that… I mean… Is that regulated at all, or is killing like that something the Negaverse is okay with… I mean, I know things aren’t easy for anyone, but… I guess it just bothers me... The person he'd killed didn't seem to be able to put up much of a fight...” But maybe he really was just too hopeful in that there would one day be peace.
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Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 8:26 am
He gritted his teeth and looked away, feeling a tinge of embarrassment for his fellow officer and anger that he had openly done that in front of a knight. Obsidian was going too far and clearly if even a knight like Valhalla had seen it, he was taking starseeds too often. He wondered what the numbers were and knew that if he brought this up to the Kings and Queens, they might take very drastic actions against him. While Wolframite had never been Obsidian's friend, barely spoken to him, he had looked up to him when he was recently recruited as a role model of strength, power, and his close relationship with Tanzanite, Nealite, and Charonite. It was something he wanted desperately.
"I know of this officer, and his particular ....bad habit is being addressed. It is not something we smile upon." He looked back at Valhalla, frowning. "The war was rough at the start. We had barely any numbers to the senshi that were rising up. Starseed collecting is something we did but now we only do it to senshi and enemies that threaten us. It ensures that a senshi will never return in the future and poise a threat to humanity ever again. I have collected starseeds myself." He admitted, not about to sugar coat it to Valhalla. These were just the facts and the bloody realities of war. "But it is not something we do outside of that. O-" He paused, not wanting to give out Obsidian's name. "That officer is someone I know and someone I'm addressing. Don't worry about him. He's being handled."
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Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 4:44 pm
Valhalla nodded to let Wolframite know he was listening and understanding, although his eyes lowered back down to some unfocused space between them. He knew the war was rough for all of them, but did it really have to result in killing each other in order to solve their problems? Were they all that incapable of coming together and discussing ways to end the war peacefully? Valhalla knew war was never easy to end, but sometimes he felt like no one was even trying.
He wished there was something he could say or do to prove that senshi were not threats to humanity, but something told him that Wolframite was so convinced that they were, that nothing could change his mind. There was panic that rose up at the thought of seeing Paris’s lifeless body, or Peter, or Penelope, or Talullah, or so many others he knew were senshi and whose only apparent crime was being born.
Some of the anxiety he was sure transferred into his expression, but as long as something was being done about the General with the red hair, he supposed he should leave it at that. “Okay…” he breathed out, taking in a deep breath now that he remembered to do so.
“So…” he glanced up again, his curiosity still lingering on the discussion of energy. “No one has ever told me why… Why collect energy, I mean. The Dark Mirror Court does that too, right…?” he wondered, and then winced, putting his hands up to try and fend off any hostile reaction. “Sorry, I know you don’t like them, but it’s true, isn’t it? They collect energy too. Why? Is there a power source that gives you all the ability to power up? I wonder if the DMC have something like that too…”
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 8:48 pm
The DMC was not something he liked being brought up at any time around him unless it was to give directions on how to find and kill them. Val knew this, and when he even mentioned the name, Wolframite tensed up like a cat hearing the world "water" and "vet" in quick succession.
Eyes narrow and seething with hatred, he gritted back the anger the trigger word called out in him. This was made harder by the fact that Val had decided to make comparisions between the DMC and the Negaverse, something he never supported in any way. "We're nothing alike to the DMC." He said through gritted teeth.
"I don't KNOW what they do, and I don't CARE what they do. All I know is that when we made the mistake of having them with us, they had to follow some of our duties. I know they take energy using their wraiths, who collect going through people. I don't know for what, and I don't care to know. All I ever care about when it comes to those monsters is where I can find one alone in a dark alleyway. That's IT." He stressed, and all the relaxation and calm from before was gone in a instant when Val brought up the topic.
"I'm not at liberty to tell you everything, Val. We're a army beyond even that of soldiers and youma, and we need resources. Energy is a resource and a vital one. It's something people expend on pointless tasks each day. If a civilian can give energy to save their planet, I'm sure they would. They should, and if they don't, then they are a really terrible person. As for our powering up, I don't need a energy orb to change into who I am. That is a even greater power."
He crossed his arms and stood up, felt a little light headed, and leaned back against the tree again.
"I would be more concerned about your own fraction than everything else. Your knights have no goals, no direction, and are getting underfoot because of it. What is keeping you together? Binding you as comrades? Nothing from what I can tell. You are going to wind up breaking into pieces on either side, and do you really want to go up against another knight? Do you all even meet together to talk? Set plans? If not, then you all are just as bad as the senshi, running around with your head's cut off, or about to." He said, frowning and feeling concerned.
"Do you even train regularly?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 5:46 am
Valhalla cringed, looking guilty and sheepish for causing such tension in Wolframite’s demeanor. He knew of his hatred for the DMC but he was also hoping to try and understand a way to bridge all gaps and find a way to end the pointless war they were all in.
“Sorry, he mumbled, his cheeks a little pink in response to Wolframite’s outburst. “I guess I just want to learn more about you… the Negaverse… maybe there is a way to work together. If you needed energy, I mean… It would be easier if I gave you mine… If I knew it was going to a good cause…”
He wasn’t trying to help Chaos in the least, but helping out someone he considered a friend was something completely different. At least to him.
Valhalla smiled weakly when asked about training, shaking his head in response. “Not really…” he admitted, wondering how upset Paris would be if she knew he was telling some Negaverse General that he wasn’t all that prepared to defend himself in a fight. He reached down to lift up his compass, surrounded by rings, holding it as if to show the General. “Not much of a weapon. Comparatively at least.”
It certainly wouldn’t do much damage, and it wasn’t like he’d want it to, anyway.
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Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 2:35 pm
"There isn't a way for the DMC to work with me. They are already associated with the Negaverse, unfortunately. If you mean knights and Negas, I don't think we're really that far off and we could work together towards a goal. I just think you all need a lot more training than what you have. I think our lieutenants have more experience than you do." He said, not wanting Valhalla to feel as if he was weak, but to point out he wasn't at the same level of training.
"One little orb from you isn't going to power anything. You'd be dead before I even got a decent among of orbs from you. It takes legwork. The only valuable thing you could give was your starseed, and I don't want it." He wanted the knights alive and fighting. They were good people.
When the topic went to the more comfortable discussions of weapons and training, he relaxed and stepped closer to look at the orb. "The knights seem to work on the same system as us. All officers in the Negaverse start off with lame weapons. It is there to learn the basic mechanics of your weapon before it becomes dangerous. I started off with a jump rope to learn how to handle the weight and to swing it without hitting my head. Then I got simple blades to handle the danger of using a heavier weapon and a metal one. Now I have my serrated blades which was larger and heavier than before. Steps." He pointed to it. "What does it do?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 2:51 pm
Valhalla smiled sheepishly when Wolframite made a point about his weapon being lame, although Valhalla didn’t mind. He was rather fond of the compass, despite it being pretty pointless as a weapon. “It used to be a plain compass, just the center part… It got the rings later on… I guess it keeps the compass horizontal, no matter which way you turn it. But it’s only changed once.”
He held out his hand as Wolframite moved closer, offering it to him to take. “You can look at it if you want. It’s nothing special and it won’t hurt you,” he promised, detaching the string beaded with green stones from the compass itself. “I’m… not entirely sure what it does, to be honest. I think reverses the movement of an action. It’s also caused severe dizziness before… I hadn’t needed to use it that much. Don’t really want to,” he added with a small shrug.
“I’ve been kind of hoping I wouldn’t need much training. In fighting and things like that. I’m more looking forward to the war ending and graduating college. I’ve got two majors I’m working on and being out here doesn’t give me much time for sleep,” he half joked, his easy smile still in place. He didn’t think Wolframite was a bad person. Misguided… brainwashed… but not a bad person.
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Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 6:25 pm
He was surprised he was even being given permission to touch another person's artifact. It was a rare opportunity, and he took it gently into his hands, moving his hand up and down to judge the weight before turning it over in his hand. It was, as Valhalla stated, a compass. A odd one, but a compass. "You need to make sure you know what your weapon does. The last thing you want is to panic during a fight and rely on just a random hunch it might work and what it might even do. You are given a weapon for a reason after all, and if you go up in rank any more, whatever it does is only going to get more powerful."
He continued playing with the compass now, turning to one side to see it move.
"You might not want to fight, but you will have to. You have a power signature, and that means you are a target. Not all members of the Negaverse see you as an ally like I do, and there is still the DMC who would go after you. They don't play nice and won't back out of a fight just because you don't want to. They will hunt you down and tear you to bits." He shook the compass as if hoping to activate it.
When nothing happened, he offered it back. "Also, don't share your real life information with anyone. It can be shared and make you a target outside of your uniform. Anyone can be tortured for information."
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Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 4:32 am
”I’m pretty sure it’s not going to get any more powerful,” Valhalla countered gently, not upset by the fact that his weapon wasn’t much of a weapon, but it wasn’t hard to see that he was already at the level many reached and stayed. There were princesses and General Kings and Queens around, but he was fairly certain he’d done all he could.
He tried not to compare the curiosity Wolframite had to the compass to Remarque’s reaction. They had both shown curiosity towards it, and that was understandable since it was a strange object, but seeing as how Wolframite obviously didn’t like the DMC, Valhalla figured he probably shouldn’t mention it.
“But I’m not sharing with just anyone,” he said in slight surprise at Wolframite’s comment of him being cautious. “I’m just talking to you about it. I trust you. If I didn’t I wouldn’t be standing here, talking to you now,” he told him, knowing he was probably extremely stupid for saying such things to Wolframite, but… As much as he didn’t like his methods, Wolframite wasn’t bad.
Or at least that’s what Valhalla has convinced himself.
“I’m married to a senshi, you know,” he continued to share, despite the warning. “She’s like me… she doesn’t want to hurt anyone and just wants to live her life in peace. Not all senshi are bad… My little brother, too… I guess they’re called Chibis, but… yeah, that happened.” Valhalla held out his hands to take the compass back, glancing down at it as if it would tell him something, but when it didn’t he simply kept it in his palm, slowly turning the rings as he watched the arrow continue to point north.
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