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 Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 6:23 pm
The Library was it... that some knight seemed to think they could make their stomping grounds? Bad enough that Chaonis had been spotted there by Ilmenite, that he had once followed Virgo there... but now a KNIGHT?
He drummed his fingers against the thermos and started to 'set up'... oh yes, he had his own way of starting out his confrontations... and he was going to set this one up HIS way...
The tea was, of course, lukewarm at best, but when that was the best you could muster, you made due... he poured some into the thermos cap and took a seat by the corner of the top most stair, making a comfortable show of 'sprawling', even if he was taught as a bow string waiting to feel a prickle of that odd energy the knights gave off.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 6:45 pm
Camelot was on the roof of the library at that moment, having just gotten off of work and opting to head straight into a short patrol. Not too long, mind, because Dogby was still in the library, sleeping under his desk. She had food and water, but she didn't like not having company and he wanted to get back from a look around before she woke up.
A sad corgi was a very depressing thing to see.
He felt something nearby. Very nearby.
Moving to the edge of the roof, he looked down and spotted someone sitting on the stairs. Obviously not a normal someone: they were powerful and dark. A Nega, he could tell now that this was one, but stronger than most he had run into. Not as strong as that strange creature, he didn't know if he could consider it a person, that had terrified him but still not a very inviting aura for him.
Still, he couldn't just ignore it. Mustering his courage, both due to the aura and because he still didn't like jumping off roofs, he hopped down from the third story roof, landing on the awning that covered the glass doors of the front entrance to the library before hopping down again to land on the side of the entryway itself.
He almost lost his balance, but managed not to tumble into the bushes.
Noting the Nega's languid position, and the thermos, Camelot couldn't help but be a little confused.
"Are you... waiting for someone?" he risked asking, trying not to look like he wanted a fight. Talk first, fight only if necessary.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 6:53 pm
Ah... there it was...he had to stifle the smirk even behind his mask which he had just been reaching to pull down for a sip of tea when the 'Man' landed on the awning and then the landing. He nodded then rather carefully and answered. "Yes... actually..." before taking down the dark fabric carefully and taking a languid sip. "You best be careful, awnings are only good for that once or twice... last thing you want in a potential skirmish is to try for some dramatic vigilante landing and find yourself flat on your posterior." His tone sounded exceptionally civil. "Mmm..." He added savoring the tea.
Pale blue eyes turned upwards to meet his own before continuing. "Tea?"
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 7:05 pm
Camelot looked surprised by the warning, glancing up on instinct.
"It certainly wouldn't be the first time..." he said, meaning falling down. He was not known to be the most graceful of knights, or of people, but he certainly made up for it in effort. He glanced at the Nega officer, a bit confused.
"You... are drinking tea?"
He didn't know why that seemed so odd. The whole thing was odd, in fact. The Nega being there, on the steps of the library, acting so nice and normal, and offering him tea. He wasn't sure what to think of it. Was it a trap of some kind? It had to be, he rationed, why else would he be there?
"So... tonight just felt like a good night for tea at the library?" he asked, lifting his arm to scratch at the back of his neck. The shield attached bumped him on the head and he tried to make it look like he had either meant to do that or didn't notice.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 7:12 pm
"Well... If I could make it I rather like Chai too, but that really doesn't travel as well, everything either rises to the top or sinks to the bottom and It looks ridiculous to be shaking a thermos, never mind that I understand that's bad for them." He shrugged like this were a VERY very normal conversation to be having with a man who just jumped off an awning.
"Sorry... don't like tea?" He asked ever so civilly. His eyes flicked to the shield for just a moment as it bumped into the back of the Knight's head, assessing gestures and expressions even as he continued.
"Are you the knight that's been mentioned guarding the premisses then?" He asked and fished around in one oversized pocket for a collapsable cup and poured another cup of tea.
"No sugar I'm afraid, just orange zest already in it, not to bitter though."
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 7:38 pm
Camelot was having some issues processing the situation. Normal was strange these days. He was expecting a fight, some kind of danger or lecture in why he was evil or a traitor or something like that. But at the moment he was just... talking about tea. And that was strange.
His life must have turned completely upside down at some point.
"I've not really had tea," he said at length, deciding to just go with it. He looked at the Nega skeptically, but let his guard drop just a little bit. His body language was less tense, even if it was almost forced, his eyes watching the other as calmly as he could manage.
"Ah... well. I guess if there's a knight guarding the library and people... know about him... that would be me. Where did you hear about that?" He wasn't very aware of how information traveled between both sides of the war. Senshi and Nega seemed to know a lot, as a community, and Camelot was oblivious. Mostly.
"Oh, thank you," he said, reaching for the tea. At least he could feel sure the stuff wasn't poisoned? Unless it was already in the cup... he tried not to be paranoid, but it was difficult.
He decided to return with his own question.
"You're a Nega officer, right? Strong, too. Ah... higher in the ranks?"
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Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 2:07 pm
"I am indeed, an officer of the 'Negaverse'" He nodded and took another sip of tea though he declined to offer rank, "Zinkenite... or Zink if you prefer, though it's sharply less formal...and you are?" He also hadn't answered where he had heard of him, though perhaps that was more to guard the person who'd mentioned him than to be obnoxiously evasive.
"...Word makes it around fast when a new.. faction, I suppose we'd call you... appears, any new person making a particular location a 'haunt' for themselves is... interesting to me, I enjoy learning new things, and about new people... hopefully that's acceptable?"
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Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 2:24 pm
Camelot watched the other for a moment, tense, but at least calming himself. He frowned.
"Zinkenite," he said, wondering why that name sounded familiar. He certainly didn't recognize the look of the man standing near him, and the sense that this was a powerful Nega lingered in the back of his mind. He couldn't feel safe, with that dark aura sending chills down his spine, and sparking warnings at the base of his neck.
He took a breath.
"Acceptable, sure. I mean. There's nothing wrong with wanting to learn about others. It's what you do with that information that's the question. Forgive me if I sound a little suspicious, but if you're a Negaverse soldier, that would mean information about me might be dangerous to share."
He said it as calmly as possible, not accusing, just testing the waters. He even took a sip of his tea. Which was actually rather nice.
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Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 5:16 pm
"I can't learn anything about the people in this fight... that they can't learn about me at the same time." he countered. "What anyone does with what they learn... that is something that stretches into how... blindly we follow the battle lines drawn in the sand."
The words were carefully spoken, quiet as though almost conspiratorial. "I like to make people -think- about the fight. I want people to realize that we aren't as ...different, as either side wants to believe. Senshi like to say their 'good' because they wander around with sparking 'auras' and magic... but I have seen the throats slit by them, young lives ended because they couldn't be BOTHERED to try and 'save' who they were fighting... But... I've been called on to do terrible things as well... I've fought to save my own life... I've made people doubt...and question themselves. I...have done terrible things to try and save people I love... I don't wear white, I have a dark aura... to me that's soothing, to you... uncomfortable... which of us is right?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 11:26 am
Camelot nodded his head. It was an interesting thought. He always told himself not to clump all Negaverse soldiers into the same basket, as it were. There were some who were cruel and vicious, efficient in their service to their own ideals, but there were also those who hadn't seemed so... well. Bad.
He got the feeling that this Nega was much, much smarter than he was, and though he wanted to be careful, it was doubtful that he would succeed. But he didn't get an overwhelming sense of deviousness from him, either.
Maybe he was just interested in information. For whatever purpose.
"I understand that," he said slowly, "I know the war between you two, Senshi and the Negaverse, is a terrible and cruel one. I read newpapers and see obituaries for young people and wonder which are causalities of the war, and which are just helpless collateral damage. I don't think there's much difference who they are, just that they shouldn't be dead. They shouldn't be fighting."
He looked sad.
"I don't judge you for your dark aura or the power I can sense around you. I know what side you're on. If I wanted to, it wouldn't be too hard to start a fight. I might not walk away from it, but I could certainly just call you a bad guy and try to hit you. I'd rather talk to you, though. I don't want to fight you, or anyone else. To be honest, I don't think you guys are all as bad as you come off to be, and I know the senshi aren't all as good as I truly wish to believe. But that's just what happens in war. It's never simple, or black and white."
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Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 2:46 pm
He smiled, nodding with an air that was far older than his face or stature. He looked deeply approving at the words.
"Everyone is capable of doing terrible things, it would be foolish to assume that they wouldn't do something terrible at least once in their life... it's how many times one crosses a line that perhaps separates man from monster."
His eyes almost glittered to have such a talk, but his words were even and almost velvet. He heaved a sigh and turned his gaze to the stars, eyes drooping to a tired half lidded yet watchful gaze.
"If they would -just- go home... they have 'stars' you realize... at least I've seen one of them... a ruined world, god knows why but I rather think they could wait for their dead queen there rather than... taking over ordinary people with their strange magic. I realize they would never call it taking over... but I don't think they can really be explained a better way. Maybe if I knew more about what happened to their worlds... about -them- as individuals rather than an hostile 'entity' wearing white."
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 10:29 am
Camelot nodded his head at that. He could agree that choices made the person, and the warrior, on either side of the fight, was in charge of his own choices. And that ability to decide between cruelty and civility, or whatever the choices might be, was an important part of character.
But he imagined there was more to it than that, as well.
He nodded his head. The same old argument of the Negaverse. True enough, he had only just started to learn about their history and the reason they were fighting, but he still felt he understood. Or rather, he understood the story, but not their stubborn dedication to an ideal that propelled them to do terrible things to people. Zircon had made it obvious that some Negas were so deeply dedicated to their service they were capable of anything.
But there had been a spark in her, some hope, he felt, of seeing his view of things. She had not killed him at the bottom of the stairs, after he had protected her from the fall. She could have. She told him next time she would. But that one little grace delivered more than just his life to him. He had hope for her.
For all of the Negaverse, really.
"They're as much welcome to this world as you and I are. At this point in time, I think hatred and idealism is pushing the war more than your history or some queen. Neither side willing to bend to the other, like a... school yard fight. Pride is on the line, and with that your very lives and the ideas you've come to hold so important. But there's more to it than that. I mean. How much have you, personally, sacrificed in random fights with senshi, in efforts to steal energy from civilians? Friends you've lost, and hurts you've suffered? It's more personal than a planet and stars. And if it keeps going this way, it will never end."
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 4:33 pm
"And how many of us...did they sacrifice... I never thought I would lead a mission to save children from torture." He said with that same sort of distant tone in his voice, like something inside had closed off to keep deeper things safe from the madness perhaps.
"Starved... for weeks, chained to a chair, beaten to an inch of her -life-...all for ideals when they could end this war any time they wanted. They push off everything we say as 'evil', and everything we do as 'willful' when we're little more than a reflex. Not that anyone wants to hear that do they." He raised his hand, lifting the tea cup in a toast before taking a long sip.
"I'm here, just listening...that's what I do, listening to both sides, who you are, who they are, what they can do, and why they do it... how much more should I bend sir?"
His tone was stoic... almost casual. "I've danced with one rather than fight, she attached me anyhow in the end because she tripped. Rather funny really..." He said amused.
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Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 10:36 am
Camelot listened, dropping his eyes to the floor. He still had the tea in hand, though now it was largely forgotten as he digested the Nega's words. It didn't sound like something a proper senshi would ever do, but he was getting more and more used to the idea that not everyone fought for the same things the senshi he had fallen in love with did.
There were monsters on both sides.
A shaken faith, however, was not enough to deter him from his goals. Disillusioned though he was becoming, he was still loyal, and pledged himself fully to protecting senshi, protecting civilians and, though with some trepidation and no small helping of complication, even to protecting Negas. it was not an easy or clear path to walk, but he would find a way.
What king of knight would he be if he didn't?
"I'm afraid I don't know," he said at length, "but this is how war breeds and is perpetuated through generations, being fought for ideals but mostly... solely in the name of revenge. They do something, you retaliate. They retaliate. Everything escalates. There has to be a better way, I know there is. It might not be an easier way, but there's more to this, to you and to them."
He smiled a bit, though thinly and half heartedly.
"Dancing would certainly make things more interesting and thousand times more awkward than fighting."
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Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 5:48 pm
"These feelings that we give off...these...power signatures, they do very little but perpetuate the problem" He shrugged. "You make me...ill at ease, it's like the most dangerous kind of first impression don't you think?"
he waved his hand and sighed. "Add to that... that they barged into places like... Elision, that battle could have been avoided, we treated that as sacred ground, untouchable, many of us didn't even know it -existed- before..." he waved his hand and let it drop again before sipping at his tea.
"It's guardian though... most... excellent person, I'm not surprised at the lengths her creatures would go through to defend her."
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