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 Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2015 1:15 am
"He does?" The statement caught Ochre off guard in a naked surprise. He blinked widely at her there, wondering if she meant it or if she decided to bullshit him over it. Umber never gave any indications that he missed his brother when he visited at length, but... What if he simply never said it?Shale rarely vocalized when they grew up together.
The next thread of conversation left him ill at ease, and he questioned where he stood within the scope of his punishment. He knew, initially, that he was being punished for making a choice he deemed morally right - this led to his imprisonment, and kept him from Shale and Porsha and his friends at the market and any pastime he found worth his while. Now Schörl explained that she was trying to help him reconnect with those he could no longer visit as a function of his trouble with the Negaverse. Am I hearing this right? I don't even understand where all of this is going...
"I thought... I thought you were here to keep me away from them. I mean, that's the point of this punishment right? How are you going to help me see them again?"It excited him, it lent him hope, and for this, it was dangerous.
But if he could look past the danger...
Maybe if I just hold it, he thought, as he reached for the orb. Trembling fingers caught hold of it and held its thrumming warmth in hand. As he looked down toward the clear surface, he saw the whorl of brilliance within. Pure energy. "Good company," he echoed. "Uh..." Could he even remember the last solid conversation he had? Ochre reached for his barest memories. "I guess it's someone you can really connect with? Someone you can tell anything to, and they don't judge you for it, and you can do things together because you're both excited about it and you don't have to think about anything else, because you know you're both honest with each other."
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Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2015 11:07 am
"No, I am here to help you. Our superiors sent me to help you out of this hole, get you back on your feet, so to speak. You're very isolated here, you're starving, thirsty, weak, bored. You've gone tattered, and you should be bright and beautiful. You should be making music. " "It is simple, you see. Three things they told me. I may not take you out of here until you are well. I may bring you things if you make progress. I may- " do whatever it is really that I want. But you should be kept alive for now. And found use for. "Do eat the orb. You will feel much better. You will make progress. " Company. Honesty. Things of peers. Such a cute little feel-good flower child. Was it pure sentiment that this poppin was corrupted, not to kill Umber's brother? Not for any great capacity and innate leanings to soldiering. Who did the actual deed and thought it wise? And now we have this interesting stew. They should be in here for wasting time and resources on sentimentality.
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Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 3:31 am
"I'd rather be making music," he admitted bitterly. He resented these walls, this perpetual false sunlight. He detested the dim dankness of his cell in ********. He hadn't even a name for it. The Citadel? The Cathedral? What did it matter to him? The food was s**t, no one visited him, and all he ever did was sit around with nothing to do but sleep until he couldn't sleep anymore or talk to himself or do anything he could possibly consider to get someone to pay attention for just a second, he only ever asked for a second.
Ochre sighed with a measure of apprehension when he looked to the orb. Someone's energy... That he knew, quite well. He'd gathered it before. If he didn't think better of it, he considered that this might've been one of the very orbs he collected. But an orb didn't mean murder, did it? The person this energy belonged to didn't necessarily die. And if he took the energy, then he'd only find more resolution to pay it forward - to leave behind all the terrible acts and find a better outlet for his efforts.
Right?
Finally he gave in to reclaiming the energy for his own, and felt immediately the effects of his exhaustion leaving. He felt better, certainly, just as she said. He felt like he finally woke for the first time since his imprisonment. Like he could tun a mile or go hunting or even play violin for hours. And he wondered about the donor, whether he or she gave that energy willingly or not, whether still alive or not, but he didn't want to think thoughts so terribly carcinogenic.
He didn't, but didn't he have to?
Ochre wasn't certain anymore. "Do I get to leave now?" He asked so hopefully.
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Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2015 1:29 pm
"One and Two: I may not take you out of here until you are well. I may bring you things if you make progress. You just made progress, pretty. But progress is not yet 'well.' You'll get there, don't you fret. I have faith in you. I believe we'll get along and get you through this troubling time. " "We do things for each other. They give me tasks to ask of you, I ask them of you, you perform them. Very simple. When you are, Ochre can walk out from this dark, oppressive hole. " A starseed, brilliant orange and luminescent, was retreived from breast pocket, then held out. "You will feel better. Maybe enough for something musical."
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2015 7:22 am
Ochre looked visibly disheartened to hear that he may not leave until he became 'well' - whatever that meant. He didn't like the sound of 'progress' either, but... I just have to play along, get out of here, and find Thraen again. This general at least wants to help me. When she's not caning me. Ochre rubbed his face thoughtfully. It gave him little comfort.
She left it sounding so simple. She acted as a conduit, and he followed the orders. It wasn't personal. He wasn't being asked to surrender his life or his friends or his family, either. He could see the world again.
All he needed to do right now was...
Eat someone's soul? Part of him wanted to rationalize it away - the owner of that soul was likely dead already, right? "Uh," he started, backing away from the offering. "I can't eat that. It's like eating someone's heart. Sorry, it's just too weird. Cannibalism, you know? That's... Seriously, I can't. Isn't there something else I can do?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 9:08 pm
“Said he thanked the whiting kindly, but he would not join the dance. Would not, could not, would not, could not, would not join the dance. Would not, could not, would not, could not, could not join the dance.” “ ‘Can’t.' ” Her fingers curled up ‘round the starseed again, and slowly retracted it to replace into her breast-pocket. “I admire that young, independent spirit. Still, it's a pity- if you will not help yourself, will not help me, I cannot help you. “ “ I would have liked to hear you play. It’s a pity. “ In her mind’s eye, she stretched black arms to touch him, chaos-leech without physical contact as was a General’s right. “All a pity. That’s too many times, and I’m afraid I must go. When you are disagreeable, they say you must go back to the hole you dug yourself. “
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2015 9:32 am
Is that some kind of nursery rhyme? Don't tell me this one's off her rocker too... Hope soon slipped from his grasp with her next words, leaving him feeling pale and drained and determined for perpetual misery. He reminded himself that he might still be able to redact, that he could reach for that starseed and pop someone's soul into his mouth and crunch down on what used to be a person. He could.
But as she said, he wouldn't.
So Ochre stood, teeth clenched and hands wanting for direction. He tried to gesticulate, to say that he would do anything but that specific task, but mostly they just found air in awkward, expressionless positions. Sighing, he dropped all attempts to communicate. At least she admires my young, independent spirit. That's a small ******** consolation to 'life in prison'. This is how things are gonna be for the rest of my life unless I start doing what they tell me to. But, if I do, then is the rest of my life really going to be worth living? A thin sigh escaped him, crestfallen as he was.
Perhaps worst of all she said was the offhand comment over wanting to hear him play. He could hardly remember the song of his violin anymore.
Ochre groaned in exasperation. He tried for one last appeal before the general sent him away. "Come on, ask me anything else! Seriously! I just don't want to mess with starseeds!" He didn't expect that she would capitulate.
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Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2015 4:22 pm
"Name, division and rank of an officer is required to make requests. But it does not bargain. In a hole, you do not allow yourself either." All the little panicked flutters were so adorable. It was a pity to have to leave him tattered and unattended. A pity he was so disagreeable. But it makes a report easy to make based on the efficaciousness and constraints of time to be spent on you. Not a break to be made easy in a count of just a few weeks. The general took a few steps back, the energy drain still active. She folded hands over top of her dragon cane before herself and waited until he inevitably passed out and face-planted. Then returned to his side, scooped him over a shoulder, and set back for his cell.
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