|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon May 01, 2017 7:47 pm
Faustite often waited without patience - it was simply a mark of his upbringing. His mother often taught him that, the more powerful you were, the less you waited. She considered it a simple truth.
Faustite considered it an utter nightmare. Money and breeding meant nothing to the Negaverse, certainly not when he was wrenched so abruptly from the life he knew, and a lieutenant's status forced on him the role of waiting on others. Now he played the servant, the slave, the easily dismissed. Now he wished all the more for the life he was freed from, hoping that in another groggy morning he might finally wake from such a state. He heaped wish upon wish that the black might someday drain from his eyes in all the carbonaceous tears shed, or that his fingers might know pale skin once more if he simply stopped touching starseeds. But each of these were meek little trials, signs of weakness.
The Negaverse made monsters of men. Faustite was lucky enough to wear his monstrosity on the outside.
Spring brought with it extra light to the evening, so that the day remained perfectly sunny in the evening hour. Faustite adjusted his sunglasses with a touch of nervousness, knowing that if Arsenopyrite did not arrive soon, then he would be confronted about wearing sunglasses at such a dark hour. He might be asked about the gloves worn too, no less, as they weren't before a part of his uniform - and the growing temperatures forbade their use. Inevitability encorached, but Faustite denied its role as much as he could.
Perhaps that was just another shoddy stain left behind by his humanity.
Another breeze ushered through the dense foliage in the park, and Faustite wondered how long Arsenopyrite would have him wait. The bench would slowly cool after the sun set, and the trees would still in the coming night. Here, where no childrens' voices penetrated, he would find the sort of solitude that bade more inward reflection.
And Faustite was, after all, quite tired of his reflection. So he hoped and waited and hoped again that his Captain would show, and show soon.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 7:07 pm
Tom was cursing to himself as he hurried through his apartment, changing into more comfortable clothes before going outside and going to his usual power-up spot. He as running a bit late for his and Faustite's latest meaning, because unfortunately the Final he had to do had taken a bit longer than he had expected. He had only just gotten out of it. Though he didn't feel too guilty about it, he still valued his education over whatever the Negaverse was doing. And he needed it especially for what he was planning to do.
Finally though he was able to power-up into Arseno and teleport to where they had met the last time and he fount the lieutenant there waiting for him, somewhat impatiently. he wasn't surprised, he was late after all. He also noticed that Faustite was now sporting a pair of sunglasses and gloves. He didn't question it. It was still bright enough outside and with it being spring it was a bit chilly.
He sighed as he walked over to the lieutenant. "I apologize for being late. Unfortunately, I was a bit busy with finals. However, that still doesn't make up for the time I've made you waste by making you wait so if you wish, in our little sparring match, you get to decide what we are going to do today. And you can throw the first punch if you want to." He knew that Faustite would be annoyed, but there really wasn't anything that could be done to make up for it.
Arseno for his part had been trying to get through finals as quickly as he could to usher in the summer months. He had a very busy class that he was going to take in the summer, so unfortunately he would have to find a way to balance out the unusual schedule and his Negaverse activities.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 03, 2017 10:40 am
Faustite opened his mouth to castigate on lateness, closed it, then smiled faintly to himself. He offered no apologies, no reasons, no qualifying words. Only the breath of a snort gave any indication that he mocked his own behavior.
"Of course. Finals." I'll never take another one in my lifetime. Strange how we miss the things that torture us, if only for their familiarity. But we're never satisfied with a never-changing world. Or maybe we just like being dissatisfied. His pacing began at the sound of the word, at the thought of such tests, and his boots found a dutiful path through the growing grass. Arsenopyrite never seemed to mind his fidgety nature - or if he did, he never said anything. That suited Faustite just fine.
So he was to decide? So much of fighting escaped him still, and Umber knew it before he simply disappeared. His cessation from Faustite's training left Arsenopyrite to pick up the slack, and Faustite could see some of that wear under the captain's eyes, in his slightly sallow countenance. He wondered how long such an arrangement would last - or if Umber would decide to return. Perhaps the man was gone for good, shirking duty entirely to disappear into the forest. But that seemed so unbecoming of him… Maybe he finally met a better adversary. Or his suspicious demeanor and cloudy motive finally irked the wrong Negaverse officer. Faustite himself was glad for the reprieve, but not for the lack of resolution.
"Umber never trained me how to block," he said at last, pausing in his step. "He said that generals are faster than captains, who are faster than lieutenants. That I wouldn't be able to react quickly enough to block his punches, and slowing them down was unnatural. That throwing slower punches trained bad habits in him and trained me incorrectly." He also cautioned that practice meant far more than instruction, but Umber wasn't there to assert that little point.
Faustite flexed his fingers into fists, testing the give of the leather, before he readied a vaguely block-based stance. His hands remained near his face in hopes of catching punches before they broke his glasses. "He vanished, you know. After his last training session with me, he just disappeared. Do you know anything about it? Did he tell you that he was leaving all of my training to you?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 04, 2017 8:24 pm
Faustite didn't seem to be up to explaining his fashion choices and so Arseno wouldn't ask. He wasn't exactly sure how to train the young lieutenant, as he was still learning all of the physical combat skills himself, but he hoped that he could be of some help. "All right we'll do blocking today. It shouldn't be too hard, except if your reaction time isn't that good, you may feel a bit frustrated if you can't block in time. However, like most things, if you practice it enough it eventually should come second-hand to you." He felt a little hypocritical, he needed to work on it himself.
"I don't quite follow the philosphy that Umber did, so you don't need to worry about hearing me say that I'm faster. I'm no master myself and if you don't learn how to block, how exactly are you going to block a senshi or knight when they attack you? It's like attacking a sitting duck, you could easily hurt yourself more if you blocked the wrong way or just let yourself get hit because of it. I may be a bit faster, and I apologize if I am too fast for you, I will try to slow it down." Honestly, most of the time lieutenants seemed to be attacked by weaker opponents anyway, or at least that was the case for Arseno. Why not learn how to do everything? Most lieutenants weren't able to teach the others even if they did have combat practice since they were so busy.
Arseno thought about it for a moment before replying. "... No. Honestly when Umber asked me to look after you, it was the first time I had ever talked to him. So I was quite surprised when I heard he had gone missing. Or at least that's what I assume. The Negaverse seems to like to keep secrets. But I have heard of some Generals sometimes disappearing and coming back. I believe one even came back with some sort of giant youma or something." The only generals that Arseno kept in contact with were the same two that had helped him through his journey thus far. Anyone else he barely knew their names let alone talked to them.
"However, if you need me, I will be there for you, and I can recommend a general or two if you want to try to find another one. But honestly... I might wait a bit on that." He wasn't too sure how it worked in the Negaverse, but you could probably get away with a lot more if you didn't yet have a general to report to. However, with that, Arseno got into a fighting stance, refusing to bring out his weapon yet. Sure, he could try having Faustite block what was essentially a sword, but that wouldn't be too good if he just hit him through the arm or something. No need to kill his own lieutenant.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 08, 2017 4:51 pm
Umber expects us to be so efficient that there's no point in learning to block. He would say that they should be dead before there's a threat of an attack. And if we were all so efficient, would there still be a war? Faustite listened to his captain while he pressed tender fingers to his injured wrist. It felt steady enough to attempt a spar. If it wasn't, perhaps he should look forward to that pain.
That lilting impulse never left him. Even now, with Arsenopyrite providing his own insights, however blasé in their generalizations, he felt his concentration waver. Such an urge blocked him from moving through his inner despair and left him rooted in a liminal state. Yet no manner of ignoring such a voice banished it; and the scene with which it came remained so steadfast in his mind that he often woke with the piercing cold rolling off his chest in the middle of the night. The mystery haunted him, stole him away to times beyond his own, and Faustite fought with himself to remain on Arsenopyrite's words.
The Negaverse seems to like to keep secrets, he said.
So do you. Faustite never forgot Arsenopyrite's staunch refusal to share his name, and while Faustite no longer regarded it with bitterness, he remained aware that Arsenopyrite chose not to share the whole story. So generals keep disappearing. How curious. And where could they be going? Maybe that's how they wick away their humanity: with every disappearance there's a little less left to lose. Convenient for building an army of hollow shells.
I wonder if they go willingly.
Faustite snapped back to the conversation with a little trouble. "… I don't need a general to confiscate more of my life." They claimed enough of him yet. They claimed more than he could ever give, now, and he straightened his glasses self-consciously. "So tell me how to do this. Do I attack you first? Should I block first?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 08, 2017 5:08 pm
Arseno tried to explain it as best he could, though he doubted that he was doing that well versus what a well-versed general could offer. After all, he had only been in the Negaverse a year himself, and most of that year was a lieutenant. He certainly didn't have the experience needed to be such an efficient agent that the Negaverse actually wanted.
Sometimes he wanted to just sigh and rub his head in frustration. He tried to get the right experience, but he had such a hard time dragging it out of the two generals he usually talked to that he had practically given up on it and decided that instead he was going to find his own place and his own things to do, though it wouldn't involve too much fighting.
It seemed though that Faustite still wondered about Umber. "If you want... I can try to look into the Umber situation. Though I can't guarantee anything." He was glad that the lieutenant had told him that Faustite didn't need a general. If one was still trying to find their place in the Negaverse, it depended on what their general was like as to how easy or hard they wanted to find it, or if they wanted to switch.
However, he decided to instead focus on what they had come here for.
"Well... I'll attack you first, and all you have to do is stop my fist. Whether you grab it or smack my arm out of the way, or grab my arm, jerk me towards you and then try and punch my face, all would be good ways to try blocking. It'll be a little slow at first seeing what you can do and what your reaction time is, but that's why we're here."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 08, 2017 5:36 pm
Faustite shook his head. "His life is no concern of mine." The phrase tasted bitter on his tongue, but boldly true. He knew what he did in his last encounter with the general, and he knew that further interactions with him would only deepen their soured relationship. He wanted none of it - he wawnted none of a man so corrupted by the power he bestowed.
The explanation on blocking amounted to stopping the force in some way or another. He supposed he couldn't get more information than that without trying it himself. He took up a readied stance once more, his nerves coming to the fore in expectation of incoming pain. Not every agent trained like Umber, he knew, but such expectations proved difficult to shake.
With it came that little fleck of delirium - that impossible giddiness. Faustite swallowed. "I'm ready."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 08, 2017 5:42 pm
Arseno had waited for Faustite to take position before he sent a punch towards the lieutenant, hoping that the other would block in time. He supposed he wasn't the greatest person to turn to for this. Arseno might guide him towards someone else as a fighting mentor, though he would have to find one himself considering that the generals that he talked to were willing or were that good at it either, not in the way he needed at least.
He had hoped he had given the other some idea on what to do. The general he still reported under tended to have Arseno try to do something rather than giving suggestions. The only problem with that was rather than acting, Arseno would think about it, but then continue to think on it as he imagined how the other would dodge or block, etc.
Even medicine seemed to be a bit easier to figure out than this, but at least symptoms were usually a starting point leading to the cause if you could figure it out.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 08, 2017 5:52 pm
The problem, Faustite soon realized, was his initial reaction. He never once wanted to catch a punch, and in response, only sought to duck the attack. But he couldn't do so here, with so obvious a goal in mind - he needed to do something about the captain coming for him in a way that might protect himself.
So he went with the first thought in mind - as Arsenopyrite threw a slow punch in his direction, Faustite reached out to catch the punch in the core of his hand.
And found out why, precisely, inertia hurt. Much of the power behind the blow now transferred to the thin bones in his palm, in his wrist, in his forearm - and with that came the groaning pain of bones under pressure. Faustite winced, wrenching his hands away, and shook out what pain he could. "That's not what I expected," he confessed.
He wasn't out of options; Arsenopyrite suggested deflecting the blow or using inertia. When his hand's throbbing subsided to a dull ache, he raised his posture once more. "Try it again."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 08, 2017 5:56 pm
Arseno was immediately worried that something was going on with Faustite's hand. No one would groan that much just from catching a fist unless they caught it the completely wrong way, which the lieutenant did not. He had caught it well, but the fact that it had hurt? Something was wrong. "Faustite... if there's something going on with your wrist, you really shouldn't use it, though you probably already know that, it was just a reflexive action you did with, I'm assuming, your main hand. It can be hard to train yourself to use the other if you're not used to it."
However, it seemed that Faustite was still willing to try this and Arseno nodded, before throwing another punch and hoping that Faustite did not use his damaged hand this time. He would have to look at it after the battle, or at least he would need to be reassured about it. He was going to become a doctor after all, and he couldn't ignore someone who was hurting so much because of an injury.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 08, 2017 6:03 pm
He knew the captain was right - he shouldn't use his wrist for any of this. Doing so only traumatized the healing process. But with every spike of pain came that distant dissonance, that lilting antipathy that lured him on. He wanted to chase it for how it sung to him, even if the realms of reason warned against it. What good was reason if man held no passion in his heart? Passion was the difference between machine and man.
"Right," he offered at last, electing to lower his injured hand further. When Arsenopyrite's attack next came, he tried to catch the other man's wrist and turn his body with the throw. Perhaps if he beheld more power and confidence, the response could've become a full throw, but the worst that could come of it now was an awkward shoulder into Arsenopyrite's chest. He knew not how to carry the attack over shoulder and heave his opponent to the ground.
Faustite snorted at himself and his inadequacies. For all that he hated it, he could now see why some quested so for power.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 08, 2017 6:19 pm
Unfortunately for Faustite, though probably predictably, he was unable to launch Arsenopyrite over his shoulder. Though from what Arseno remembered, he needed two strong hands to do it and quite a bit of momentum. He was glad for the mask that he had on, because it blocked the small smile that was on his face. At least the lieutenant had tried, right? Though they were now a bit closer than he wanted.
He stepped back, making sure there was space between the two of them again. "If I were you... I might try knocking the arm out of the way and then following up with your own punch. That way you could possibly throw them off and land an attack." He was glad that the other was trying different ways though, but they would have to talk to someone if lieutenant wanted to try. "It's all right you're seeing what you can do and your reaction time seems to be quite good, so you should do okay against Order members of your rank."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 08, 2017 6:38 pm
Arsenopyrite stepped away and Faustite took the opportunity to straighten his vest out of habit. Gingerly he wrung his hand around his wrist as he considered the suggestion his captain gave - doing so would necessitate using his injured hand, however. Maybe he could land the punch without force.
"It's vexing," he confessed. "We can fight words without blood, and yet the Negaverse would have us fight and kill every senshi in our path." It's a waste. All of it's a waste. But saying so doesn't stop it from happening, does it? Nothing can stop the machine that grinds bones to dust. It won't stop until all the world lies dead. It won't change. I can't change it. He can't change it, as a captain waist-deep in his own misbegotten blood.
I have to give in.
Faustite sighed slowly. "Something happened." He reached for his glasses and lifted them from his eyes, keeping them closed in the process. When he again laid his gaze on Arsenopyrite, the view of his starless eyes remained unobstructed. "The people of Order aren't going to listen to someone like me. I can't settle for learning to block if I want to live." Which begged a question he didn't yet intend to face.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 08, 2017 6:56 pm
Arseno considered what he had said and figured it may not have been the best advice, at least not right now with that injured hand of Faustite's. He had to agree with the lieutenant though. "I don't like fighting the senshi that much either. We need to kill them but they seem to be more of an obstacle rather than a total obstruction that the Negaverse sees them as. I have never thought of them as those 'terrorists' that plague the city. Nothing has ever shown that they were and even with video manipulation they didn't seem to be that bad." He couldn't mention the one he had killed to the lieutenant though. The one that had forced him to take her starseed or else he would have been killed himself.
He watched though as Faustite removed his sunglasses and revealed what his eyes now looked like. "Faustite..." Arseno's eyes had widened as he saw what had happened to the kid. "You... it was starseeds wasn't it?" He had forgotten that they themselves could be turned partially or fully youma by consuming starseeds, which is why he had always avoided eating one himself and he refused to even carry one around with him in case the temptation was too great.
"I should have warned you..." Though he didn't think the lieutenant would have consumed them. It was partially Arseno's inexperience though, he had never met anyone as of yet that was half youma, only full. "But... you can't say that about the senshi. There may be some who would be willing to do everything they could to try to help you. I've met a few who seemed absolutely convinced that they could help anyone they could get out of the Negaverse." However, Faustite didn't seem as though he wanted their help.
"If you need better, more sufficient training, you may need to find someone who is more experienced than I am. And someone who's been in your situation too. I can help cover for you as much as you want, but I admit, I have no experience with being half youma." He considered, wondering what exactly to do in a situation like this.
"If you don't want to just block, we can try to actually attack each other. Though..." He looked at the injured hand of Faustite's, "it might be better to wait until you are fully healed. I don't believe that you would be able to learn that well when you're having to learn around a handicap you may not have all the time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 08, 2017 7:15 pm
"I don't know," Faustite answered heavily. "The cause doesn't matter now." He started to laugh, cold as it was, and shirked the gloves from his hands. "Chrysocolla said there's nothing to be done of it. That I'm stuck like this forever. She said there's a general no different than me, that she could help. She thought I'd want help.
"Everyone wants to treat it like am ourning show. Like the loss of that side of my life should bother me more than it does. But we both know the truth: the Negaverse makes monsters of men. No one escapes that. I've never met a general with all their sense left intact, Arsenopyrite. They're broken on the inside - husks of the men and women they used to be before the Negaverse twisted them up inside. Now they're just shells to cast forward their rot.
"I'm sure you're right - that there are White Moon out there who would do anything to help me. That would look at me with pity written all over their faces. They treat the Negaverse as the ultimate evil, as the bastion to stand against. But the Negaverse is what writes their existence, isn't it? Without that ultimate evil, they lack a noble cause." What am I saying? This… He paused, pressed his fingers to his temple. "And they're right about the evil. It hollows out all the good parts and cements itself into brittle bones. It affected even you. You, who hangs worth on a life to justify pulling starseeds to preserve your own. But that's beside the point, isn't it?
"I think I know where to go. Chrysocolla already explained that there's no real study on anyone left like me, but… There's something there." He snorted, then shut his eyes. "Nevermind. I'm just tired." Cold and tired and he remembered the wet sluice of blood on the floor, but that time wasn't here, it wasn't now.
He needed to focus, he knew. "You're right, Captain. Training should wait. At least for a while," he finished, as he looked upon his own wrist.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
