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Post by Clair Feldsky on Feb 14, 2011 18:09:10 GMT -6
"Can't say I wouldn't mind hearing a thing or two about your mother," inquired Richter. "It's got to be an interesting story. After all, she is your mother."
Clair wasn't really sure what to make of her Commander's statement. Anyone else and she'd have treated it as either a joke, or a jibe. With him though, she wasn't sure. He rarely let himself relax.
Clair looked studied him while she thought these things through, before her look turned grew into an amused grin. She had decided to treat it as him kidding around, however foreign it seemed to his personality. She was glad that he was able to do so, actually.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She laughed a bit. With him, she hoped, and not at him. "Your right though. The earliest of the beginnings of the Feldsky name is something not mentioned often...." She paused for a moment. She definitely considered Richter a close enough friend to share this. She hoped she'd get the chance to introduce him to her parents someday.
"The name "Feldsky" actually started out as the result of an accident. My Mom...." Clair shook her head at the old tale.
"She loved everything about flying. She'd always excelled at flying, but this happened when she was still pretty new to evasive practice. Anyway, one time she got so excited about going out on a practice run that she forgot to make sure the tack was secured tight enough. Predictably, she ended up falling off one one of their first dives, and got stuck in a snowdrift for a few hours until they could get her out. In the end, the only injury she took was to her pride. The other girls teased her about "falling from the sky" for several weeks and "Feldsky" was coined during that time, by someone who I'm sure came to regret it later. They grew tired of it eventually, but that name never left her memory. Eventually, she wanted to beat it." And she had, as she continued to improve, and toured the lands. Clair knew that much for certain.
"Over her career, she built up a reputation for being able to dive down on the enemy through wind, snow, hail, or arrows. It didn't matter what the target was. Once she hit them, they scattered or died, or that's what started being said after a while, anyway. She even managed to use two lances in one dive once." Clair shook her head. That was exactly the kind of thing they were told to avoid doing in basic training, but Hera Feldsky seemed to defy the odds more than she ought to, and cause more chaos than she ought to. Some attributed it to luck, some said skill, others daring. Clair thought it was all three.
"Now she's known as a Feldsky, because dropping on her opponents from above is her signature, and few enough have held together against it.... And I carry on that name."
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Post by Richter Abend on Feb 18, 2011 16:51:16 GMT -6
Richter nodded as Clair finished her story, sitting back on a nearby barrel and crossing his arms. Hera Feldsky sounded a lot like his sister, at least by nature. Also, her last name was far more interesting than his, well in origin at least. As far as Richter new, Abend was his name, his father's name, his grandfather's name, and kept going on back as such. He knew the name had its roots in the word "judge", so either one of his ancestors was a judiciary official, or was nicknamed to be one. Either way, Richter had always thought the name sounded pretty cool.
"Well if that really is why you're called Feldsky," started Richter, a slight grin on his face, "then I'd say you're becoming a pretty good one." The commander's face grew more serious, though inside he was still smiling, and shrugged. "Though don't let that go to your head. I might not be a pegasus rider, but I can still tell you've got plenty of room to grow."
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Post by Clair Feldsky on Feb 18, 2011 21:43:18 GMT -6
Clair was glad that Richter thought she was doing a good job, and it showed in her expression. A bit of faith could work wonders in people's abilities. His next statement stung her newly founded pride a bit though, mostly because she knew it to be true. She would always have room for improvement.
"Don't worry. I'm still planning on exercising plenty of caution in battle. I just think that I should make better use of myself from now on." If she didn't start making better of her talent, then she'd never improve beyond where she was at now.
Clair looked over her Commander again. He was a confident man, skilled in his craft, and well respected for it. Why then did he stay away from his Sister? "Richter... Your sister... It's been over a year since I've seen my parents. I should send word to them. I'm sure that your sister feels the same way my parents do...."
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Post by Richter Abend on Feb 18, 2011 22:30:15 GMT -6
Richter sighed softly. "You're probably right," admitted the commander. One could see the sadness in his eyes. As much as he tried not to show it, being away from his last remaining family for so long had created a deep, painful hole within him. He had always dealt with it by just not talking about it, but Clair had forced the issue rightly into attention.
"But I can't go back," he said, shaking his head. It hurt him to say it, but he meant it. "I already abandoned her once, I can't do it again. I've still got work ahead of me. I'm not going to go back just to leave her again." Richter gave Clair a very melancholic but assured look. "Besides, if she thinks I'm dead, it's better she keeps thinking that until I can finally go home. If it's my fate to die in this war, I'm not going to give her false hope. Mary is a strong girl...." The pink haired Ilian's voice trailed off. Obviously this was something he had given some thought, and his mind was made up.
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Post by Clair Feldsky on Feb 18, 2011 23:04:45 GMT -6
The thought of Richter's death caused Clair to flinch, but so did his rationalization of keeping his life hidden. The pegasus knight crossed her arms and gave him an unconvinced look. "Richter, if she thinks you're dead, that's even more reason to go back to her and let her know you're alright. Hope that you'll survive to come back and be her brother isn't false hope...."
Clair's expression softened a bit, as did her voice. "We all lay our lives on the line in this business. Don't you think she'd rather know you were still alive?" Clair knew nothing about Mary, but if she was so strong as Richter believed, she'd want the whole story.
"I think you should at least write to her."
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Post by Richter Abend on Feb 19, 2011 14:54:01 GMT -6
"Perhaps," replied the rebel commander. His gaze became distant and his face seemed to freeze over. Clearly he didn't agree, but he wasn't about to get in an argument over it. He'd never tell Clair, but part of Richter was afraid to go back, afraid to face Mary. As a kid, he'd always been there for his sister as her big brother who would brave all odds to keep her safe. Richter had been so distraught after the death of his family, he had forgotten that for a moment, but that moment was all it had taken to put Mary through seven years alone in that mausoleum of a village.
"But enough of this talk," said Richter, turning away from Clair, "I've got to get back to work. Good spar, Feldsky."
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Post by Clair Feldsky on Feb 20, 2011 0:28:37 GMT -6
Clair wasn't sure if she'd gotten through that icy exterior he pulled up so easily, but the fact that he'd heard it gave her a bit of hope. "Good spar." She agreed.
As he stepped, Clair spoke up again. "Richter... don't throw your life away." Sometimes it seemed like he didn't value living anymore. Only his work. "Some of us consider your life of high value."
His name carried the love of Illia, and his deeds won over yet more favor, but this hadn't been what the pegasus knight had been speaking of. She'd meant people like Rayl, Marle, and herself. People who valued him as himself, and who didn't rely on him. Well, Clair still relied on him quite a bit, but that wasn't the issue at hand.
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Post by Richter Abend on Feb 20, 2011 12:28:43 GMT -6
Still walking, Richter turned his head slightly to his shoulder to respond to Clair. "Who says I'm throwing it away? If my life is such high value, imagine the value of a deed that costs that life," he said, a hint of joking in his voice, though anyone with half a brain could see through it.
"Don't worry though, I don't plan on dying anytime soon." As he continued to walk away, the commander held up his hand in a sort of reverse salute, then headed off into the tents.
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Post by Clair Feldsky on Feb 20, 2011 14:24:09 GMT -6
Clair raised her hand in response, as Richter reverse-saluted and stepped walked away. Her reaction didn't look very much like a salute though. More like a combination of a wave, a salute, and a reach.
It was phrases like that which worried her, because he seemed to think of his life as nothing more that a bargaining chip on the table. The truth was, he carried a lot more weight than that for her. She couldn't imagine a single deed worth accomplishing that would be worth his life.
She still doubted herself, she realized. She'd grown to care for him over the year. To love him she thought. She'd come to see how emotionally fragile he was, and seen the scarring that he carried from his past. None of that had turned her away, but could she be deluding herself? Had she only grown close to him because she'd worked closely under him? Were these merely feelings of loyalty, or was it, in fact, deeper.
She suddenly felt young and inexperienced again. Over her tour of duty, she'd been forced to grow up quick, to learn how to be cool under pressure, and to figure out the best decision as quick as she could. She'd put aside how young she was still as a distraction, but there could be no quick way to gain life experience, as she needed now. All she had left, were her reasoning skills. The ones her father had taught her to use.
She respected him, that much was certain. He was a leader who did everything he could for his troops. Even while driving them at a tremendous pace, his soldiers were true to him. He'd earned their trust. Clair also considered him a friend, and she was certain that he shared that sentiment from the way he threw his occasional sarcastic jokes, or attempts at jokes, her way. According to the way she felt though, and had felt for a time now, she wanted to be something more than a simple friend. She wanted to join with him....
She laughed, a pained laugh, at how ridiculous all this was turning out to be. They were so many years apart, though she didn't know the exact count. She was just a youthful if ambitious pegasus knight, while he was a stoic broken man, who retreated from any emotional contact which didn't involve anger. Was she tricking herself? Had she turned out to be susceptible to the charms of the capable, but icy prince charming stereotype? Was this all completely in her own head?
The reasoning kicked in again, and just in time. Irrelevant, it said. Doubting your own thinking faculties destroys the basis of logic, which is that you are a being capable reasoning with logic. The only productive way to move forward is to move forward under the assumption that your thoughts carry weight, but be prepared to alter your beliefs, should you find a reason to do so. It was that "reason" that Clair had issues with: Finding the bounds of reason, and her wishes.
After a moment, the girl came to a hopeless realization....I'll have to find some way to talk to Him about this. Otherwise it will start tearing me up from the inside.
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