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 Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 2:11 pm
A continuation of this RP.
“Sorry, I know how it feels…” he admitted, sympathy and regret thick in his voice. He wouldn’t have used it had Zia not needed to get to safety, and he knew Wolframite wasn’t about to let her escape so easily.
Of course, now he was just putting himself in danger, trying to help the young General out when he was still very angry. “Try breathing through your nose,” he suggested, wondering if it would be too far of him to rub at his back.
He kept an eye on Wolframite’s weapon of course, ready to jump back should it be recalled to his hand. For now, though… he was a little more concerned about how sick Wolframite could be feeling. It was his fault for it, and he felt responsible, so of course he was going to try and make it up to him.
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 11:31 am
By the time you were a General, Wolframite felt you should learn to fight without a weapon as it was a major weakness for when you were left weaponless. Considering how often he had a blade stuck in a wall or his chain wrapped around a pole or a victim, depending on how bad his aim was, he knew he had to deliver powerful blows between throwing his weapon. Not only that, but most Negas had to learn to fight without a weapon from the very start as their weapon was usually very useless and laughable.
Lucky for Valhalla, Wolframite did not summon his weapon. Unfortunately for Valhalla, Wolframite was not going to laugh off his interference in the fight. He left the cat get away, a MAJOR catch for a officer like him, not to mention having someone who hurt a major wound just skip off only slightly injured. She was wounded, but he didn't want her to be cut. He wanted to tear off her leg so she would never run again.
Flaring his nostrils to breath as direction, he grabbed the wrist of the page tightly, digging his nails in, before lifting himself up and using the force to throw a punch at the knight.
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 12:14 pm
Thankfully for Valhalla, his wrist was protected by the vambrace that reached up his forearm, but that didn’t stop Wolframite from punching him.
Then again, Valhalla didn’t fight as he was willingly forced down to a better height for the shorter General, holding up his free arm to protect only his face. Everywhere else was left mostly unprotected, aside from the armor he’d gained with his growth to Knight.
He didn’t know why — maybe it was his bleeding heart that desperately wanted to understand Wolframite, and maybe try to help lessen the pain he must still be feeling — but Valhalla lowered himself to his knees so Wolframite wouldn’t have to exert as much effort in getting him to a reachable height. The compass dropped from his hand, rolling away so he was now weaponless as well, and while he kept his arm over his face, he didn’t fight back.
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 12:44 pm
He expected the guard, and his fist hit the arm guard. Grunting, he watched as Val went to his knees, dropped his weapon, and waited. The surrender only aggirvated him more, fueling his hatred, and he went for a barrage of punches, hitting guards and chest plates, the neck and sides, and turning to swing a kick to send the knight down further to the ground. He wanted to grind him into the asphalt with his heels, to hear bones break.
"DO YOU THINK THIS IS A JOKE?! You do NOT get between me and my enemy! You do not get between me and anyone who mocks Operation Rota! Don't EVER GET BETWEEN ME AND ANYONE I'M FIGHTING!" He threw another kick.
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 1:12 pm
While he was okay with letting Wolframite hit him, Valhalla hadn’t intended for things to get out of hand. He thought he could at least defend himself enough to prevent some of Wolframite’s harsher kicks, but the kick in his unprotected side had him gasping for air, and found himself being forced down to the ground.
He coughed and gasped as he was surprised by increasingly hard kicks, wondering if he should regret not running away when he probably had the chance.
But once more, he began to wonder how much pain Wolframite had gone through, how much pain the others had gone through… how much anger and regret and hatred was swirling around this war.
“No, I don’t think that!” he pleaded in earnest, not for Wolframite to go easy on him, but for him to understand. “You don’t have to be like them, Wolfr--!” he tried, but was stopped with another kick to his abdomen, leaving him breathless and wincing in pain.
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 1:42 pm
He paused mid-kick, looking at the curled, gasping knight with wide yes. "...like them?"
Slowly, he stepped over Valhalla until Wolframite was over him, knelt down, grabbing his shoulder to turn him onto his back. He lowered himself, barely straddling the knight, and looked down at him. His tone had dropped to a whisper, and in the dark quiet of the alleyway, it was clear they were alone. Even the faint glimmers of other auras that moved like passing comets around them were only distant stars twinkling on the edges of his senses. The sky was clear, the moon bright, and the air cold with the chill of a coming winter.
His hand gripped around Valhallla's neck, and he took his other hand to press it slowly down upon his chest. "I am nothing like them. I do not take senshi and tie them to chairs. Starve them and deprive them of even a few moments of rest. I do not let them watch others die without giving them the chance to fight back. I give them that honor of fighting back, and I also give them that chance to escape if they are skilled enough to earn it."
His hand sank, past the armor, cloth, and warm flesh, into the dark abyss that all starseeds hovered in. In the sea of dark, he slipped his hand slowly towards the warm light.
"I did not rob anyone of their ability to fight. I did not take away their honor as a member of their cause and strip them of all ability to even stand without help. I did not keep them in the dark, hearing nothing but screams, loosing all idea of time and space to the point you even question if dying would be the greatest job in the bleak world you occupy. That your body was only a burden, a tool against you to be broken, stepped upon, burned to the point you smelled blood and burnt skin, and hoped that this one this....." His eye wavered as he looked down at Valhalla, brow creasing as he looked into his eyes. "....that they wouldn't wake you when you lost consciousness or better yet.......that you never wake at all."
His voice was a whisper, before his fingertips felt the crystal that held all that was Valhalla. He let his fingers graze over it, letting the warm electricity dance over his palm, before he opened it wide and held it. Warm. Bright. He knew the taste of it. The way it broke onto your tongue like glass and tasted like acid and fire, shot spasms into your body and through the pain brought a shining relief of power.
"But then you remember never to abandon the ones who you fight alongside. To not let them suffer alone." He squeezed tightly over the starseed as he gritted his teeth, his voice rising and echoing off the building walls. "Through the swirling hell that you are trapped in, you don't think of rescue, you think of just being the last one to die, to be there to the very end to offer yourself in some relief to those who die and to not let them be the last. And yet you see yourself a coward and stripped of pride when you openly ask for mercy that you know you will never receive."
A warm, wet tear rolled down his nose and fell as he relieved that moment, strapped to the same chair he had to stay in, the same body-twisting position he wasn't allowed to move from and stayed in for days on end, to see Tanzanite, the beacon of strength, whittled away to a weak, blackened frame of the one beautiful woman she was, and Uranophane quiet and strong and to feel ashamed you ever opened your mouth once to beg. To be gathered in this room, among those of Operation Rota, and hear her.
"I watched - I watched an officer I never got a meet sing the sweetest song as her insides were torn from her." He gripped the starseed again. "I am not like them. I'm not the type of monsters they are!"
To which he breathed out, exhausted through tears as he lowered his head, closing his eyes before opening them. "I became one that will kill them."
He released, removing his hand to pull it away, and took a deep breath, placing his hands on either side and swallowing hard gulps of sharp, brisk air.
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:35 pm
Golden eyes stared up at the face of the slighter young man, wide and fearful, yet they still shone with determination not to push Wolframite away, to withstand whatever was thrown at him, to endure every punch and kick that might somehow alleviate the pain with which the General was living.
Valhalla knew what would happen the moment the hand was placed on his chest, and yet he didn’t fight him. The pain was just as he remembered, both from when Painite had reached in for it, and then a couple years later when Benitoite could have very well killed him. Wolframite could very well kill him now, but Valhalla believed (or wanted to believe) that he wouldn’t.
There was a sharp intake of air as Wolframite’s hand wrapped around his starseed, and Valhalla’s fingers dug into the concrete, as if that would somehow help him to withstand the pain. Instinct to fight back was there, to push Wolframite away, to punch him, or anything. He thought of what Paris might think, of how she would be upset with him, maybe even be angry with him for doing something so stupid as to put his life at risk with the only reason being that he believed there was good still in Wolframite.
He didn’t consider himself a very strong person. He tended to be emotional and let his feelings get in the way of what others might consider better judgement. But as he listened to Wolframite and tried to withstand the pain that tore through him, he still couldn’t force himself to fight back.
As his starseed was released, Valhalla gasped in relief, his breathing labored and tears in the corners of his eyes… but whether they were from the pain, or from Wolframite’s story, even he didn’t know. Maybe both?
Either way, as Wolframite lowered his head to breathe, Valhalla pushed himself up to throw an arm around the General, catching him in a tight embrace, and refusing to let go. He knew he couldn’t apologize for all the things Wolframite had gone through, nor could he do anything to fix what had happened, but if he could provide any bit of comfort…
He realized how awkward this might be for someone to witness, but Valhalla didn’t care. He took advantage of Wolframite’s hesitation and openness, holding him close to his chest — still aching with pain from his starseed being abused. Even if Wolframite fought to get away, he wouldn’t let him. They were all just children, after all… they all needed someone to cry on, sometimes.
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:04 pm
The embrace was not welcomed. Not from someone who hadn't been there. Not from someone who didn't understand. Not from someone who let a cat who mocked that tragic event run and remain proud of what she insulted.
As he was pulled in, he only wished Bismuthite was here instead, to comfort him again as he did countless times before when he was still frail and recovering from the torture his young mind and body had endured. Instead, he was being held by a knight. Not a Negaverser, and for that he had mix feelings. To defend a cat had openly stated who Valhalla sided with, and yet he was also here, not moving to fight him, not struggling when Wolframite had had his very existence in his palm.
He punched against his chest, again at his side, but these lacked the angry and energy that had been strong and quick when they had brought Valhalla to his knees previously. Soon they dwindled down to nudging, a pushing to free himself, before he stopped all together and, exhausted, just let himself take in shaking, wet breathes as he cried. No matter how many times he mourned for them, his eyes never dried when thinking about that night. He had yet to master a cold seriousness when he remembered her face, when he remembered the smell of blood on rusted metal, the look of paling skin draining of life, or heard the cries through a wet, bleeding through.
When he managed to speak, it was only a sharp whine through a tight throat. "...they're gone.......they're all gone......" Those of the Negaverse who had been taken and escaped Operation Rota. It was just him now.
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 4:07 pm
Valhalla had expected Wolframite to struggle and made sure he held on tighter. He knew he probably wasn’t a person he would appreciate trying to comfort him, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that no matter what, he was not alone.
“You told me once before… that you would sacrifice yourself for the greater good,” Valhalla said, his voice laced with lingering pain and sympathy, barely above a whisper. “I think… sacrificing yourself would do less than surviving. Because without you, no one will know their story. You can tell people about it, you could tell me all the horrible details, but you’re the only one with those complete memories…”
He didn’t know if he was helping or making things worse, but at this point, when Wolframite seemed to have nothing less, there was nothing wrong with trying to offer a bit of comfort.
“They might be gone, but you’re not alone…” And while Valhalla knew that trusting Wolframite so willingly could very well be his downfall, he couldn’t help but take sympathy on him. To him, mercy was sometimes more important than justice, and he was willing to extend that to whomever welcomed it.
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 4:41 pm
His breathing slowed, evened, and he simply left his eyes closed as he rested his brow against Valhalla's chest. "Talking isn't the same. No one can actually know. To see. To understand that way. It's become a joke to them. Just like that cat. To laugh at. To prod. To run through the dirt the people who died at their hands........and now they are on our side." He cringed, eyes tightening shut as he felt another surge of angry frustration and deep pain. If he was a traitor to go after Ares and fight the DMC, wasn't the Negaverse betraying those who died by their hands by having made a truce with them?
He pushed off, calmer now than before, and wanting free from the tight embrace in order to stand again.
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 7:02 pm
Valhalla remained on the ground as Wolframite pushed himself away, although he was at least able to sit up a little better. He stared up at the young man, not knowing how to help him, or if anything he did would even matter. There was so much that had happened that was influencing his decisions and how he felt that Valhalla didn't expect there to be much anyone could do.
Or maybe he was underestimating Wolframite...
"I'm sorry," he tried instead, knowing that an apology wasn't going to be enough, but it was something. "There aren't many like them these days... at least none that I'm aware of. Many involved were corrupted when Ares formed her court... anyway, I didn't even know I was a knight back when it happened... But I swear to you, it won't happen again."
He knew he couldn't control what other people did, but if he could do something to stop these pointless tragedies... He cared for Zia and knew she didn't always say things in the nicest way, or was even purposefully antagonizing, but he didn't think that was a good reason to kill her, or anyone... They all just needed a little more patience, which was obviously difficult, all things considered.
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 7:24 pm
He rose, stepping over Val to walk away, to collect himself and wipe his face with the back of his arm, the cold air chill on his damp skin. Eyepatch wet, he took it off, staring at it, but gripped it at what Val had said.
"Don't." He managed, before turning, the normally glass eye he had as a civilian nothing but a black orb in his Nega form. "Don't make that promise. There is nothing you can do that will prevent something like that from happening again. What INFLUENCE do you have over the senshi? They have no leaders. They run around just like you group does. It's in that chaos, in the lack of control, that those senshi gathered and have these ideas. They did that under the senshi's own banner, under their princesses, before they EVER came to our side, and not a damn thing was done about them by you or ANYONE ELSE!" He stood firm, the anger faint but far more level now.
"Ares was a leader who had her own goals and army. There is nothing that is keeping the senshi from doing it again and again and again, and cats like the one you protect create more of them, and at some point, they will bring about another Ares, and just like the other senshi, they either won't know, won't care, or won't do a damn thing about it. No. They will even go so far as to make fun of it. Those are the people you are protecting, Valhalla. You shouldn't blinding run in and take a side until you really understand what you are protecting, because it's that side you pick that you will have to be responsible for when they decide to bloody their hands again - the blood of the people I fight alongside."
He turned, picking up his weapon from where he left it. "I have been here a very long time. Before the knights even showed up. I was here before our leader now, and even before Queen Beryl was brought to us. I was here when there were the Parallels. Wiseman. I've been to space and to the center to Elysion. I've walked in the world full of youma." He turned, gripping the chain. "I have seen all manner of death and monster, and I know this one thing. I will be seeing a lot more of it, and you cannot stop that from happening again."
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 9:28 pm
He flinched when Wolframite countered him. Valhalla remained seated on the ground, at least until Wolframite retrieved his weapon. At that point he scrambled to his feet. Sure he hoped the General wouldn’t kill him, but that didn’t mean he was going to always make it easier. He didn’t like that his head was at a good height for that blade…
Maybe he couldn’t stop things from happening again, but he would do whatever he could to try. But not knowing how to argue with Wolframite, and not really wanting to, he lowered his head and kept an eye on the weapon now in the other’s hand.
“I may not be as experienced as you… but I do believe in the goodness of others… Even if there is more bloodshed, it will not be because of me," he said in earnest, hoping that Wolframite would understand why he protected Zia, and why he would do the same for anyone in her position, regardless of knowing her for as long as he had.
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 9:32 pm
He watched Valhalla scramble, and look at his weapon, surprised the man would think he would go that far. True, he punched and kicked him, but did he honestly think he would use his weapon on a knight?
Frowning, he listened, and felt his heart squeeze at the proclamation. "I hope....that you do not get hurt and used doing that. I wish you a lot of luck in your goals, in your beliefs.....it really suits that of a knight. I just don't want someone who pretends to be good to make your their shield. To use you for something you don't want a part of." He desummoned his weapon.
"And....if that ever does happen, I hope you understand that you do have friends in the Negaverse, but that that friendship only goes so far." He looked at him, sad but serious. "I don't want to have to hurt you in the end."
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Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 9:41 pm
Valhalla stared at the young man with wide eyes for a moment before his expression relaxed, having been a bit surprised by his comment. It took a few moments, but Valhalla finally smiled weakly and nodded.
“That means a lot to me…” he told Wolframite, especially since he often tried talking others out of their negative views of the Negaverse and those in it. He never thought the people involved were to blame, at least.
“I’ll be okay. I’m stronger than I look,” he said with a grin and stepping back, only to wince in pain and clutch at his side. “Okay, maybe not that strong against heels in my ribs, but I’ll manage,” he promised with a small, awkward laugh. He was just glad this experience had gone, well… a lot better than he’d expected it to.
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