sigelphoenix (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sigelphoenix) wrote2007-10-15 09:24 pm
sigelphoenix) wrote2007-10-15 09:24 pm
[Next Time Gamers Club] Aftermath
Galath and Nexus talk. Nexus thinks. Nym watches.
Thanks to![[insanejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/ij-userinfo.gif)
ratzeo for helping me RP with Galath (an NPC), which I used as a loose guide for this story.
Aftermath
The fire blazing at the center of the campsite threw brilliant flashes upon Nexus' adamantine skin, making a bold marker in the quiet night. In contrast, the shadowy forms of Galath and Nym seemed to dodge the firelight, slipping in and out amongst the trees as they patrolled the edges of the campsite. They moved around Nexus, who stood still with Unfettered at its side - less able to move or see, but ready against the approach of any intruders with ill intentions.
"Do you like Nym?" Nexus asked quietly.
Galath flicked his gaze sideways, not halting in his prowl. "Yes."
A moment of silence, as Galath rounded the far side of his orbit and made his way toward Nexus again.
"Does Nym like you?"
"Uh ... yeah."
"Good."
Galath paused beside the construct and looked at it askance. It was the same kind of look that people often gave Nexus when it said things that people normally would not choose to say. Nexus looked back at him, the way it often did when people looked at it oddly and it didn't see any reason why.
The wooden and adamantine head turned back outward, in the direction of Loudwater. The city was also dark, though the faraway glow of fire illuminated buildings here and there. Loudwater was burning.
"Those are houses burning there, aren't they?"
Galath turned his keener eyesight toward the city. "Yes. Tenement houses, mostly." He turned away to continue his circuit of the campsite.
"We did that, didn't we?"
"Yes." Galath paused, then whistled in Nym's direction. At a quick nod of the hin's head, the dog sped up in its circling, picking up the slack and letting Galath pause for a while.
Galath craned his head back, to let his gaze travel up the towering form of the construct. "Are you sorry, Nexus?" he asked.
Nexus planted the blade of Unfettered into the dirt, and leaned on the sword. "I ... think so. I wasn't sorry before, when we made our plan to rescue Garvin. But I am sorry about those fires." It turned to Galath - perhaps to see if the hin was giving him that look, the one when people thought it said weird things. But Galath wasn't giving it.
"We knew what would happen when we made our plan. That -" a slim hand waved in the direction of Loudwater's burning buildings, "- or something like it."
"I thought we were only hurting the people who tried to hurt us - the watch tried to capture us, and the bounty-hunters tried to kill us. I didn't care what happened to them, because we were helping someone who helped us."
"But what about the innocent people who got caught in the riot? When members of the watch come to the slums, you can't control who gets hurt. Did you not think of that?" Galath's voice was stern, paternal though not condescending.
Nexus' grip shifted uneasily on the hilt of Unfettered. It looked down at Galath. "I don't have an answer for that."
A brief, surprised laugh huffed out of the hin. "No, you don't, son. Most people just wouldn't say that."
"I am not a 'son.'"
"Right, uh, sorry. Just ... well, felt like your elder for a moment there, is all."
"You are older than me. Though smaller."
There was the look.
"Are you sorry, Galath?"
"Yes." No temporizing, no justifying. "A lot of innocent people got hurt and killed because of what we did, and I'm ashamed of that. Yondalla says to protect the community, and I failed in that."
"Were you sorry before? I am now, but I wasn't when we did it, so that's why I did it."
"I made the decision I did because we were running out of time. I threw out a plan, and ... Normally when someone comes up with a plan, you have time to improve it. But ..." Galath narrowed his eyes and squinted at the night sky. "I knew we had to do something, so I made my choice. But it wasn't a good one."
Nexus paced back and forth a bit, restlessly. "I don't like that. Making a bad choice because you think you have to."
Galath snorted softly. "Sometimes that's just how it happens, Nexus." He sighed. "I'm not saying it's right; it's not. What should happen is that you're smart enough that it doesn't happen. If not, at least you do your best to fix it."
"How do we fix Loudwater?"
Galath tilted his head up at it, a humorless smile twisting his mouth. "That's the question now, isn't it?"
Several seconds of silence stretched out, and the Nexus said, "I don't have an answer for that, either."
Galath simply nodded. Eventually he moved back out and returned to his shadowy patrol, joined by Nym, as Nexus stood by. Beyond them, Loudwater continued to burn.
Thanks to
ratzeo for helping me RP with Galath (an NPC), which I used as a loose guide for this story.Aftermath
The fire blazing at the center of the campsite threw brilliant flashes upon Nexus' adamantine skin, making a bold marker in the quiet night. In contrast, the shadowy forms of Galath and Nym seemed to dodge the firelight, slipping in and out amongst the trees as they patrolled the edges of the campsite. They moved around Nexus, who stood still with Unfettered at its side - less able to move or see, but ready against the approach of any intruders with ill intentions.
"Do you like Nym?" Nexus asked quietly.
Galath flicked his gaze sideways, not halting in his prowl. "Yes."
A moment of silence, as Galath rounded the far side of his orbit and made his way toward Nexus again.
"Does Nym like you?"
"Uh ... yeah."
"Good."
Galath paused beside the construct and looked at it askance. It was the same kind of look that people often gave Nexus when it said things that people normally would not choose to say. Nexus looked back at him, the way it often did when people looked at it oddly and it didn't see any reason why.
The wooden and adamantine head turned back outward, in the direction of Loudwater. The city was also dark, though the faraway glow of fire illuminated buildings here and there. Loudwater was burning.
"Those are houses burning there, aren't they?"
Galath turned his keener eyesight toward the city. "Yes. Tenement houses, mostly." He turned away to continue his circuit of the campsite.
"We did that, didn't we?"
"Yes." Galath paused, then whistled in Nym's direction. At a quick nod of the hin's head, the dog sped up in its circling, picking up the slack and letting Galath pause for a while.
Galath craned his head back, to let his gaze travel up the towering form of the construct. "Are you sorry, Nexus?" he asked.
Nexus planted the blade of Unfettered into the dirt, and leaned on the sword. "I ... think so. I wasn't sorry before, when we made our plan to rescue Garvin. But I am sorry about those fires." It turned to Galath - perhaps to see if the hin was giving him that look, the one when people thought it said weird things. But Galath wasn't giving it.
"We knew what would happen when we made our plan. That -" a slim hand waved in the direction of Loudwater's burning buildings, "- or something like it."
"I thought we were only hurting the people who tried to hurt us - the watch tried to capture us, and the bounty-hunters tried to kill us. I didn't care what happened to them, because we were helping someone who helped us."
"But what about the innocent people who got caught in the riot? When members of the watch come to the slums, you can't control who gets hurt. Did you not think of that?" Galath's voice was stern, paternal though not condescending.
Nexus' grip shifted uneasily on the hilt of Unfettered. It looked down at Galath. "I don't have an answer for that."
A brief, surprised laugh huffed out of the hin. "No, you don't, son. Most people just wouldn't say that."
"I am not a 'son.'"
"Right, uh, sorry. Just ... well, felt like your elder for a moment there, is all."
"You are older than me. Though smaller."
There was the look.
"Are you sorry, Galath?"
"Yes." No temporizing, no justifying. "A lot of innocent people got hurt and killed because of what we did, and I'm ashamed of that. Yondalla says to protect the community, and I failed in that."
"Were you sorry before? I am now, but I wasn't when we did it, so that's why I did it."
"I made the decision I did because we were running out of time. I threw out a plan, and ... Normally when someone comes up with a plan, you have time to improve it. But ..." Galath narrowed his eyes and squinted at the night sky. "I knew we had to do something, so I made my choice. But it wasn't a good one."
Nexus paced back and forth a bit, restlessly. "I don't like that. Making a bad choice because you think you have to."
Galath snorted softly. "Sometimes that's just how it happens, Nexus." He sighed. "I'm not saying it's right; it's not. What should happen is that you're smart enough that it doesn't happen. If not, at least you do your best to fix it."
"How do we fix Loudwater?"
Galath tilted his head up at it, a humorless smile twisting his mouth. "That's the question now, isn't it?"
Several seconds of silence stretched out, and the Nexus said, "I don't have an answer for that, either."
Galath simply nodded. Eventually he moved back out and returned to his shadowy patrol, joined by Nym, as Nexus stood by. Beyond them, Loudwater continued to burn.