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 Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 2:27 pm
Athalia banked that little bit of information for later, refraining from commenting on the number of Pages he had met that were completely oblivious to their purpose and without any guidance or training. If someone was there waiting for them, specifically to guide them in their duties, then he did have to wonder why on earth they didn't use them. He certainly would have made use of the resource if it was there but all he had at his disposal was instinct, and on occasions, peculiar flashbacks of a world not quite his own.
...And yet one he felt rather familiar with.
"Intriguing," he said at last. "And perhaps I might at least extend my apology to him if he has somewhat different expectations than yourself," he added. It wasn't a criticism of Pendour and more of a recognition that perhaps Irving may have a different set of priorities than she did. Given that Pendour hadn't been offended by Orias and her description of her ancestor differed considerably from her own personality, he could only assume the story might be different for him.
"And you are welcome to visit it at some point," he continued and chuckled softly. "Though perhaps without the paint, tempting as it may be to add a little colour I suspect it might not be received well," he conceded. Something was at work on that planet even if he couldn't quite comprehend what it was yet.
"Not that I mean to pry, but what is it about your training that hasn't gone as well as you would have hoped?" he added curiously. "To have such different personalities perform the same duties is odd, particular if you want a smooth transfer of power..."
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Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2021 2:27 pm
Pendour nodded when he said that he would apologize to Irving in person, and she was about to offer to take him up to her wonder right then, but something else he said caught her attention, and she blinked, her lips pressing to the side a little. "Your world has color preferences?" she asked. She knew enough about magic and about senshi that she understood moons and asteroids having some kind of consciousness inside of them. It even made sense that that those places could have basic desires. She couldn't imagine a senshi's homeworld being happy if they fell to chaos. What she was having a hard time wrapping her head around was that a place would ever want to be beige. "I was thinking of putting some lava lamps up in the rooms on my wonder, or maybe those LED nightlights that change color all slowly. I can't, because there's no electricity, but I don't think the Code would have minded." She glanced upwards, as if Neptune might want to add a few words to the conversation, but when it remained silent, she smiled at Athalia, instead. "I don't think we have to keep these places all pristine and ancient. They're supposed to be, well, homes." Maybe they were meant to be more than homes. Wonders especially tended to have duties attached to them, but people still lived there. She was quiet for a while when asked about Irving, although not in a concerned way. She was just thinking. "I don't know if I would call it training at all in my case," she said with a small sigh. "He did help me with my magic a little, but that was later. At first-" She paused again. "He's an assassain. I never asked the details, but from what I've heard he would gain people's trust, um, lure them to the cove, somehow, and then drown them?" For the first time, her voice faltered. "Criminals. Enemies. In his mind, he was justified, but-" she waved a hand and shook her head, the frustration clear in her face even as her voice failed. She swallowed. "I would never willingly hurt another person. Ever," she said, a hint of steel under the usual softness of her tone. "And he wasn't very nice about this, either," she gestured to her eye, although her voice stayed steady this time, "So it's been, um, complicated.
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Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2021 2:49 pm
"As much as I would like to provide you with more clarity on that, I can't at the moment," he admitted and released a small sigh. "But whatever cogs may be turning in the machine of that world have a purpose - I wouldn't call it a preference for anything in particular, I'm just not so sure it would last for very long," he continued. The more he thought about what he'd just said, the more he realised it had made absolutely no sense, even to him.
"It rains metal shards, whatever plants or trees you might attempt to give colour to at the moment may end up no more than dust depending on the fury of the weather system it contains," he clarified. "If I were to guess, I would assume the colour should have been within the walls of their complexes," he pursed his lips at that. He had seen the stones on the walls, they were clearly jewel-like and smooth, they were just devoid of warmth and light.
"Not that I can confirm it by any measure, if the planet is supposed to have a power source, I can't find it... Not yet anyway."
He fell silent as she explained who her ancestor was though and after a moment, it seemed her came to understand why Irving and Pendour may have clashed. Truth be told Athalia and Pendour were liable to clash in a more hostile environment. For all intents and purposes she was a liability and if her ancestor, or her trainer, had always been one her did what was necessary to ensure others were safe then he could certainly see where there were rifts.
"It seems you are right, your guide and I would see eye to eye on many things," he said at last, though he did have enough consideration and respect for her to avoid making any remarks regarding her own preferences. Now wasn't the time, or the place, and given neither of them was in a position where action was necessary the entire debate would have been pointless to begin with!
"I can also see why he may have been fairly harsh towards you as well," he shook his head. "Regardless, provided your methods won't get you or your allies killed at some point, you are free to do as you deem fit," he pointed out. He may not have approved of her actions but if the company she kept were happy with it then he wasn't about to demand she change it.
...He would feel a touch of sympathy for her ancestor though, the differing view points were bound to be jarring.
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Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2021 5:50 pm
"Metal rain?" As destructive as that would be to both art and plants, two of Pendour's favorite things in the world, she went wide-eyed and smiled at the thought. It was just so different than anything you would see on Earth. That was the kind of thing that made her want to see more of the universe. "Now you're making me really want to see this place. I'd like to see what adaptations the life there had to help them survive in that kind of situation," she said. Or if there were no plants at all, would the residents just have imported everything? Would they have been more like the aliens in the stories were, and not eaten organic things at all? It was fascinating. Although the smile faded and her eyes narrowed as he began to talk more about. It wasn't so much the fact that it was clear he disagreed with her. She had an odd viewpoint for someone involved in a war. She knew that many people thought violence was the answer, and a few people even thought killing was acceptable, and even though it made her stomach twist, she could accept that. It was something about how self-assured his tone of voice was that made her lips twitch. "You don't get to decide what I'm free to do," she said, steel still just under the surface. "I decide to cause as little harm as I can. I have weighed the consequences of my actions. We can talk about that if you'd like, but it's my choice." She swallowed. "And I might die for it, but I could also die by choosing to fight, or die for nothing at all." He voice remained steady, but she glanced at the ground, because she knew she didn't want to die in this war, or to keep getting hurt the way that was becoming an awful habit, but there were people out there in the Negaverse who had it worse off than she did, and she needed to help them more than she needed to be safe.
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:50 am
"On the contrary Miss Pendour," Athalia shook his head. "If you are allied to someone else you are not entirely free to decide what you get to do," he raised a brow. "You are free to decide what the consequences of your actions do to you, you are not free to kill your friends and allies with them too," he pointed out. His tone was blunt, perhaps a little razor thin. She seemed to have been entirely focused on what she could do that she had missed the fact that he had specifically mentioned her allies too.
"If your allies decide that your behaviour is acceptable and they are willing to perish as a result of it as well, then and only then, are you free to do 'as you please'," he stated. "However if you are alone then you are absolutely correct, you are free to do whatever you would like and no one else may determine any different," he finished.
If she thought that she got to determine the fate of others and genuinely believed that, then she would soon find a knife in her back and it wouldn't be at the hands of Chaos. Her own friends may tolerate it, but if she were to jeopardise his health or his allies, then he would simply remove that risk from the equation himself. However, if this was simply the voice of a stubborn woman who was trying to make her point and coming out a touch tone-deaf as a result then she would at least be safe from him!
Nevertheless, the theoretical would remain just that for now and there was no point pushing it, he had clarified his point.
"Differing view points aside you are more than welcome to admire the view on Athalia at some point when you are free," he smiled wryly and lifted his hand to tap the bug he had slotted behind the sign to spring to life. "I spent a fair amount of my time there either way so visits are frequent and there is probably at least one date that may fit into your calendar," he mused.
"Although I would suggest bringing a torch if you would like to explore some of the world, it's a little dark in some spots."
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 7:59 am
There was some conversation to be had, there, about the connection between free will and social contracts and the compromises that came with all relationships. Pendour also didn't think that that was what Athalia really wanted to talk about. "If someone decided to come after us right now, I wouldn't just stand there and let them hurt you," she said, quiet but still just a little defensive. "I have my ways of protecting people." It was why she came out at night, after all. Of course, she was much better with preventing conflict than she was with actually dealing with it when it came up, but she was working on that, too. "And I would never ask someone to come into danger with me," she added. She looked into his eyes, watching his resolute expression. "I'm not asking you to be my friend if you don't want," she said. She wasn't sure how similar to Irving he really was, but it wouldn't be easy for her to work with him if he saw things in such black and white that he went around murdering the people she was making progress towards saving. On the other hand, he might not appreciate her pulling him away from an agent he was trying to hurt, but for the sake of not escalating conflict, she decided not to ask him about that. "At least we can agree about space being fascinating," she said instead, letting herself smile again, although in a careful way. "My schedule is flexible, so let me know, and then you can come up to Pendour, maybe."
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 8:15 am
Battles were to be picked carefully and on this occasion it looked like both of them had acknowledged that this one probably wasn't of value. While a debate could certainly be interesting, it would serve no purpose here other than to stoke animosity which hadn't been Athalia's intention this evening. Safe to say his only intention this evening had been to continue about his previously scheduled activities of scoping regions out and ascertaining whether anything of significance had happened there in recent weeks.
Encountering Pendour on his wanderings had simply been an added bonus. Granted she may not have felt the same way, but he would never say no to at least meeting another of his 'kind' even if they ultimately didn't see eye to eye. Differences aside there was no harm in her and in the grand scheme of things it was highly likely she assumed she was doing the right thing for everyone.
"Consider it a date then," he gave a nod in reference to her invitation. While he had only visited one individuals Homeworld, he had never had the opportunity to see a Knight's and that in itself was intriguing. "We shall both have the opportunity to admire the view, I look forward to seeing what awaits me on Pendour."
Irving aside, it was sure to be interesting.
"And may you still find Athalia as intriguing when you step foot upon its petrified soils," he chuckled. He had grown fond of his homeworld but it was still mostly beige and probably lacked appeal for some. He knew there were homeworlds that were green by default, his just wasn't one of them.
"For now though I suspect I should continue with my rounds or else I will never get this finished and people will start to talk if they keep seeing an oddball in their security footage each evening," he mused.
"You will take care of yourself, yes?"
He wouldn't overstep and encourage her to be mindful of others intentions, but he also wasn't the type to wish harm on anyone to prove a point either. She'd already experienced some brutality by the looks of it, she didn't deserve more.
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 8:40 am
Pendour's smile widened into something a little less careful. "I'm sure it's lovely," she said. "I'm excited." She was thankful, too, that Athalia would let her see something as personal as his world even now that it was becoming more clear that there were important thing they didn't agree on. He was cold in some ways, she decided, but he didn't seem like a bad person. She glanced upwards, and although she didn't immediately see any security cameras in the eaves, she still nodded. "You're right. If we stay here too long, we'll really start looking like we're about to break in, and that's no good at all." There was already enough in the news about how they were gangs or terrorists or something. She backed up, out of any video frame she might be in, and she raised a hand. "Good luck with Orias's little bugs. Tell him I said hi, and um," she paused, pressing her lips together, "I'll do my best to stay safe." That was all she could offer.
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Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 5:25 am
"Good," he nodded and flicked another of the little mechanical bugs into his palm. "I'll make sure he knows you've sent your regards," he added with a wry smile. He was sure that would result in several minutes of babble and rambling, but perhaps Athalia might garner some interesting tidbits about that ancestor of her's. It was unlikely, but every now and then the cat did pick up something he considered interesting.
As for keeping safe...
"That's all I can ask for," he finished. He couldn't demand she do anything or take any specific precautions but if she would at least try then that would be enough. For now though it was in his best interests to slip away, he had a considerable amount of ground to cover this evening if he wanted to keep to his own schedules and he genuinely wanted to test out both how reliable these little things were and how long they had the bailey to last for.
In a few weeks time he would find a means to contact her and when she was ready he'd bring her to his Homeworld. Hopefully it would put up a performance, but only time would tell in that respect.
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