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Post by Remus on Jan 26, 2017 22:26:03 GMT -6
Nayru certainly knew how to draw emotions out of the conversation. The priest quietly paused. His healing briefly stemming the flow of healing magics so that he could sprint somewhat ahead. Okay. More like a sloppy jog that left him a bit too winded for a few steps. (So he wasn't in great shape, or recovered 100% yet from his stamina loss? What was anyone gunna do, sue him? Joke was on them, he had no money!) He reached out a hand, to gingerly place it on her good shoulder as if to affirm his next statement, speaking quickly once more while Remus fell back upon old habits of simply speaking purely from the heart. His expression soft though despite Nayru's more somber and appropriately serious tone.
"Well...just know that no matter where you have to go to stay ahead, you can find me with welcoming arms. And I know Elibe will understand. I know it. If I can accept it despite years of attempted conditioning from the faith, I know others can. It...works both ways. The snowballing of humanities mindset. The more that people accept something, the more that will grow to find it a norm. Even if all of Elibe doesn't...I know you can make a difference. If the impressions you've left on me is anything to judge from heh..."
He let his hand drop from her shoulder quietly and started to resume his slightly slower pace while wading through sand and solid surface. It still beat those monstrous horrible dunes in earnest.
The blue haired priest quietly pondered what she'd said prior though. She spoke of a name when she spoke of the dragon. She...knew him. That...wasn't easy he imagined. But he didn't blame her. Survival was nature's prospect. The priest spoke softly now while he reflected on the situation, and the scant details he'd heard.
"Survival and self preservation are just natural. It's like blaming a bird for defending its nest, or a wolf for defending its life from hunters. Humans from monsters or brigands, and the like. Everywhere there is life...it will try to protect itself. A pacifist like me can see that even."
He followed her patiently, before continuing his thought to her later statement further still.
"You remind me of the people they tell stories about within the stars. Where they name constellations after great heroes. Heh...I bet there's a "Nayru" constellation up there waiting to be picked out."
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 26, 2017 22:45:47 GMT -6
"Well, that's what I'm here for, right?" She had to work to put the positive tone into her words and it wasn't perfect, but at least it wasn't quite the morose, vindictive tendency for destruction that often scrabbled at the windows of her mind. "Making a difference. Punching the bad guys. With great power comes great responsibility and all that, as the saying goes. I just... need to figure out exactly what to do with it, and make sure I can actually do it safely." That was why they were headed to Arcadia after all. Nayru felt as though she was pulling together the pieces of who she wanted to be, the New-Self of who Nayru /should/ be, but actually putting them together - stepping into the construct of Self rather than living as what she was, it wasn't something she knew how to do on her own. She'd never been able to. Her last attempt had ended in... well, her leaving Arcadia in the first place.
This time, she wanted to do it right. HAD to do it right. Change had to come from within, but Nayru recognized that she needed some level of guidance to understand it. It was something Remus had helped her a great deal with, but in the end there was only one person who knew her better than she knew herself. "I dunno about constellations, but..." the dragon snorted in fond amusement, finding that the words came to her tongue a bit easier than she had anticipated. "Thanks, Remus. For always being there for me, and for believing in me. Maybe someday I'll be able to live up to who you think I am."
It was interesting in a way that he had managed to actually even get her considering it. Her relationship with Veigue had been more of a mutually pulling each other back together, stray cats licking each other's wounds. Her and Elly had been... Nayru wasn't really sure, especially with Elly gone now. She wanted to think that maybe she could have done something similar with Elly, but the world would never know now. Remus was the one who had constantly pushed her to be better, not just stronger as a fighter but to grow as a person - and she still didn't feel like she'd paid him back a hundredth of one percent of it. "Just... thanks for everything."
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Post by Remus on Jan 27, 2017 15:38:34 GMT -6
The priest nodded his head quietly when she asked her rhetorical question. At-least, he hoped it was because that's how he took it. The priest smiling brightly towards her while he quietly followed along side her and simply...listened. Sometimes Nayru was good at making him feel far more important than he truly was by just confiding in him. It really brought a smile to his lips and a warmth to his heart. The priests mind quietly shifting a bit as she talked about discovering herself and what it meant to wield that power or how she could safely brandish it. For her sake, and almost...for all the good she hoped to bring, and for the sake of her dreams even; Remus truly hoped she could find that answer. Perhaps more than anything else within his heart at that moment.
The priests face flushed slightly though, when she started to thank him. It wasn't something he expected. Nor was it something he had tried to bring about. He instinctively moved to wave his hand dismissively, but stopped mid inclination of his hand. He didn't want to insult her like that by just...denying her heartfelt words. So instead he embraced that kindly thanks. Dipping his head though cheeks still reddened somewhat with embarrassment.
"I'm...just glad I could help you in any modicum of way, given all you've done to help me. Heh..just know though Nayru. No matter who you become, or whether or not you live up to what you think you should, I'll be here. I'm not one to abandon friends. So...your welcome...even though I should be the one saying that same thing to you. I guess I'll return the favor still as best i can."
He inclined his head once more before lifting his hand to wipe his brow with sweaty forearm. Which...accomplished nothing. Now...how to change the topic? He didn't want her to feel too awkward!
"So erm. What is Mega Kraft. Ah. um. now. Magna..Kraf? Magna Krav...what had you called it? The fighting style?"
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 28, 2017 1:42:45 GMT -6
"Well, least I'm not the only one who sucks at taking a thank you." Nayru chuckled, then chortled harder as the sheer absurdity of the statement hit her - just how incredibly stupid it sounded, the irony and almost hypocrisy that both of them embodied; they were willing to do so much, but... couldn't just say 'you're welcome' like a god damn normal person. "We're a couple of idiots, aren't we? Guess if neither of us is really that good at staying alive, the other's gotta step up a bit." The dragon snorted again, thoroughly amused by the situation as a whole and most of its component parts. She really didn't know how this had all started or where it was going, much less how it would end, but... she did hope it went well. Hope didn't do much against magic and legendary weapons, though, so Nayru suspected they'd need something a little more concrete next time they decided to take on the entire f**k**g Etrurian army as a buddy cop duo.
In the meantime, though, Remus had changed the subject a bit - not that she was going to let him escape entirely unscathed obviously - and started asking about... well, it took a bit for the slack jawed dragon to even figure out what the crap he was asking. Not in an attempt to make fun of him, haha look at the dumb priest who can't talk people words, she just legitimately had no idea what Remus was even referring to. It wasn't until his third attempt that it sounded similar enough to jog her memory and remind her of what she'd been talking a few posts moments ago, their conversation as always jumping back and forth between madness and the abyss. Oh for - "Krav Maga," she said, with relief dawning even more than realization. How in - aside from a sudden urge to officially rename it Mega Kraft, the name worked better than Remus realized, but Nayru quashed the thought quickly before the mental cancer could spread and consume her whole.
"I've dabbled in a lot of martial arts," the dragon began somewhat more helpfully, her voice shifting back to a calmer and more informative tone. "-But the two I specialize are Bājíquán," and the way the alien sounds flowed off her tongue hinted at its foreign origins in a long gone civilization, "and krav maga. Bājíquán is what I usually use in serious fights. I think the last time you saw me use it was against the gargoyles back in Bern. Krav maga is what I turn to if I need something dead immediately. It's less 'martial art' and more 'how do I make that thing stop moving right now.' Not uh... not so good for sparring matches."
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Post by Remus on Jan 29, 2017 15:53:43 GMT -6
Remus laughed quietly while she brought up the blue haired priests inability to say thank you. She certainly wasn't wrong at-least. His hands idly brushing to his sides as he attempted to wipe some rebellious segments of sand from his body silently. The blueberry of Etruria's healing arts flashed a warm grin towards her before he slowly brushed his palm along the back of his neck again, awkwardly rubbing it before he nodded in agreement to her official dubbing of the pair as two idiots. He tilted his head while smiling wider, nodding before he leaned back to observe her.
"Heh, I guess we should both start stepping up then! Maybe if we do things will go a bit easier, ahah. Though yeah I um...suppose I've never been super great at accepting thanks. I never feel like I've done enough to deserve thanks haha..especially since it is usually just me doing what I think I should really."
The priest laughed again before quieting his mirth so that he could listen to her as she began to explain her....strange sounding arts of "Punch-fu" as she'd one called it. Though Punch-fu was easier to remember really compared to Krav maga or...the other one. The priest pondered for a moment, trying to recall her precise fighting styles in action. He remembered the gargoyle fight to a degree, but he also remembered more so her using her breath to attempt a tactical melting obliteration blast upon the winged feel beast. Where as the other one just seemed like something she'd have used on a foe he'd yet to meet or see. Though either way, it did make him curious. The meek priest spoke up a moment later, tone almost hesitant sounding as he tried to fully ponder it himself.
"So. Do you think...there are any martial arts that might suit me?"
Yes. Beacuse he was naturally going to be a master of Bajiq...how did he pronounce it? Even the recollection and attempt to reuse the phrase she'd utter prior was so strange. So. Krav maga or the other punching thing?
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 29, 2017 16:07:52 GMT -6
Ha ha... stepping up, huh? Whatever that actually meant, it did seem to be that each of them would have to cover for the other to some degree or another in the future as well. If Remus embraced this whole fighting thing, maybe it'd be more literally than she had anticipated, but he was a good support regardless. And her... well, she hit things 'til they stopped moving, and distracted the bad guys from nice priest guy. Not exactly the most harmonious and complex of relationships, but it had worked out pretty well for them so far, and well, don't fix what aint broken. As the wise sages of the past said. Who said that? She said that. Not many folks else were smart/dumb enough to. Nayru didn't much know or care which of the two perspectives was more accurate. Probably depended mostly on, well, perspective.
As for the question of what to actually teach Remus... well, that was a fair one, and not one she had an immediate answer to. Despite her experience in the field, Nayru had never actually really... taught anyone... much of anything in the subject, honestly. Obviously she knew how several styles WORKED, but not a lot of experience in helping people figure out what they wanted to learn. What was the right protocol? Hmm. She tried to remember how she had begun to pick up her own styles, extrapolating from what she had heard at the time and when discussed with instructors.
"...For now, we should probably start with the basics, simple and universal self defense. Get your muscles used to those kinds of movements, see what you take to. From there, we can figure it out based on your strengths. If you find out that you really like throws, for example, judo or aikido might be good things to look into, or if you decide you prefer punching, wing chun, thousand fists, boxing, panantukan..." The dragon trailed off, waving her right hand vaguely as if to emphasize her words. "I'm not an expert in all of them, but it's something we can't really decide now, you'll have to decide yourself after you get a better understanding of what any of them actually mean."
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Post by Remus on Jan 29, 2017 16:44:41 GMT -6
The walking, and strains from aforementioned walking faded away as the conversation began to engage him further. The priests mind trying to picture all these strange and alien words..like "Wing Chun," or "Boxing". He'd never delved much even from a scholarly perspective into the realm of the body's martial prowess. He'd been so focused on trying to improve himself magically he'd never considered the potency of physical training. Though he would've never changed what he'd learned and the path he'd taken now, knowing that he'd been able to mend wounds and heal others, he couldn't help but ponder the future application of this new road that Nayru had opened as gracefully as a charging enraged Rhino.
His eyes squinted as he gazed ahead. The desert's vast expanse essentially endless and small rippling like effects in the distance making it nearly impossible to actually gauge a palpable amount of time they'd be traveling. The priest slowly clasped his hands together after resigning to just enjoying the conversation. The shade cast by his brimmed hat a minute reprieve. He glanced towards the white staff within his hands even as he quietly pondered. If nothing else learning martial arts from her would prove enticing. The blue haired priest shifted before he looked to her quietly, speaking aloud with a thoughtful hint to his tone and a hesitance that was born from him still processing the words as he spoke them.
"I see...I don't know what entails learning a martial art really..but I'll do my best if we can figure out something that works for me. Though, I can't help but wonder if it would be good to also practice my enhancing magic while we go about that or if it would develop a bodily crutch by not testing it the old fashioned way. I...don't know how the body builds or grows while it's under an imbued effect. Or if it does at all even. Building ah..muscle and training the body physically is...a new concept to me. Silly as that probably sounds."
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 29, 2017 17:32:25 GMT -6
Nayru was a touch fuzzy on how long they'd been walking for and she didn't much care at this point. The problem with desert travel, especially in the flats, was that there WASN'T really a sense of progression. You just kept walking long past the point of what was reasonable, and eventually something interesting happened, like dying from dehydration or getting attacked by giant scorpions or reaching your destination. The problem was that you never knew which order they'd happen in, or if you'd be alive after any of them, and that just made planning annoying. So the ideal solution was just to... walk and keep walking, in eternal boredom and unending displeasure, and hope that the dice fell in pleasant patterns.
"Both" was the dragon's fairly quick response to her companion's question, delivered without preamble or immediate explanation, though after taking a moment to compose her thoughts she continued with something resembling an actual answer. "You want to learn how the motions work without any magical interference - it has to mean something to your body to even make those movements, training muscles you didn't know existed. But you also have to know how to account for the increased physical strength when 'buffed' and still apply those same motions in the same ways despite having..." she glanced at his noodle arms, "...some level of increased strength." It was hard sometimes to remember that Remus's enhancement didn't work quite the same way as hers, without the ability to half-shift, but it was also a reminder that her basic 10% shift was functionally very similar to his ability and thus a better comparison.
"That's something I learned the hard way. Getting too used to practicing with or without enhancement just conditions you to fighting that way,and doing all your training WITH it makes it harder to master the fundamentals. All the power in the world doesn't mean crap if you can't use it well. And since you aren't immune to taking a sword in the gut, you probably want all the mastery you can get."
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Post by Remus on Jan 29, 2017 17:43:41 GMT -6
This was so weird for him. The ability to enhance or alter his power and speed. He was glad he'd tapped into it, and though it might've seemed strange....
"It makes me feel a bit closer to you in a way. Being able to enhance myself. I realize it's no where near the capabilities or aptitude your able to perform, but it makes me feel well...a bit more like what I imagine you might've. Because when I think of that, I think of it as another similarity between what a human can do, and what a dragon can. If we have more similarities, then maybe people will be less abrasive or more receptive towards them in totality?"
The priests cheeks flushed after a moment in embarrassment. Not that it was noticeable from the flush in his cheeks due to the heat. Actually, his entire body was a bit redder from the heat. So that was a strange aspect in and of itself. However, the young Etrurian elaborated further while they walked through what felt like the same endless ten feet of desert set to a repeated state of reality. Which was, to Remus, in and of itself a terrifying notion.
"I guess I'll have to actually utilize more of my body than my mind. Ahah..it's strange. I remember spending so many long nights reading and pouring tirelessly over tomes, texts, and various things within the church archives or libraries. Reading by candle light or lantern for hours and hours to the detriment of my health. At one point, I'd become so fixated on a tome that I hadn't left my room for a day and a half bar the bare necessities. It became dangerously easy for me to slip away from the awareness of time and simply get lost within the book in my hands. So..my body has been neglected for a long time, and I've only recently become aware of just how much of a detriment that really was. So I guess I feel like I'm making amends to myself by doing this to a degree as well. That erm..probably all sounds like rubbish though."
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 29, 2017 18:25:28 GMT -6
"Heh." Nayru's chuckle was quiet and warm as she thought about Remus's innocent comment. Not mocking, but... almost impressed in a way by his insight. It was true, and she had thought of it too. The more capable he was in a fight, the more he learned of the limits of magic and how to apply it to himself as well as simply for external combat, the more similarities they would truly have. Not that it had been her sole or even primary motivation in trying to convince him to take up that path, but it was a rather nice side effect. The dragon couldn't help but smile a little as she responded. "You're right, Remus. It is another similarity."
As for whether or not it was truly a good thing, well, only time would tell. The last thing he needed was for people to start thinking he was a dragon and hunting him down as a result. The daft idjit probably wouldn't even fight back. "And nah. I've been bitten by the book bug badly before myself as well. It's easy to lose track of time, to be ensnared in the past, or in another world entirely if fiction's more your style." Of course, her greatest tool for revisiting the past was only one step short of literal, and... pretty much shut her body down in the meantime, so Nayru was VERY aware what that was like. "Though that reminds me of an old quote from a long dead philosopher. As she said, 'a strong body makes the mind strong.' Amidst, uh, a bunch of other philosophical bullshit in way fancier wording." Sun Lian had been a great philosopher and all, but her tendency to talk in circles and arrange words in strange ways made it difficult to read her work sometimes without feeling like your entire brain was mush.
"Point is, strengthening and training yourself, honing yourself as a warrior or a guardian, isn't just about having strong magic or punching hard or being smart. It's all of them, and more; coiled together into one single harmonious whole. Any idiot can train their body, anyone with the bare minimum of talent or ability for it can learn to manipulate magic, anyone can study and learn if they put their mind to it. It's only in balancing them all that you widen your mind to understand yourself in its entirety - to realize how much you have left to learn, how much work there will always be to do." As her smile turned more rueful, Nayru couldn't help but recall her own... struggles in the area. "It's easy to think you're so good at punching things or know enough more than the average guy to believe you're a complete badass or actually flawless; only in constantly challenging yourself on every level can you truly further growth into something more than just a man... or dragon for that matter."
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Post by Remus on Jan 29, 2017 18:45:41 GMT -6
It was so often that Nayru spoke of deep philosophical things and made him feel as if his mind was still in its infancy. Perhaps it was purely her sheer knowledge? He should've settled with the logic that it was purely unfair to try and compare himself to her in any respective category that she was applicable to purely from the stand point that well..she'd lived literally hundreds of years longer than him if any of their prior conversations were to be believed. So she could've respectively spent more time reading books or tomes or historical text in total than he'd spent well...being alive. That should've been his understanding. It however, was not. He felt like he should've been able to at-least mentally comprehend most of what she spoke or have contributed to their conversations beyond sparse speculation or the occasional relevance in text.
It seemed like he had a slightly competitive streak mayhap? He couldn't tell really. All he knew was that she had the right of it. At-least what she said made sense. He even iterated it quietly as he thought to himself, leaning down and quietly tilting his gaze towards the dragoness thoughtfully.
"Strong body makes the mind strong. I...quite like the notion of that really. It does make me wonder what I might be truly capable of. Honestly Nayru, I look forward to seeing what your like as an instructor. As a friend who has merely helped to guide me along any semblance of a path you've been more helpful than an entire institution of people from Etruria. The church may nurture foundations, but it's focus on that is constant. It doesn't try to inspire to branch out or spread good effects anymore. So centralized in stagnancy and never trying to go beyond or really just...strive to further enhance. So...I guess most of the times your encouragement has been well...the right medicine for me. It makes me hopeful for growing even further thanks to you. Though I know that probably sounds presumptuous."
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 29, 2017 19:34:53 GMT -6
"Well, that makes two of us." Her sardonic tone and dry chuckle belied the sarcasm inherent to the dragon's response, though without a vindictive or cruel air to it. "Never had to teach anyone martial arts before, hopefully it goes better than that time I tried to ride a pegasus." Ah man, good times. About the closest she'd ever been to getting her dumb ass killed. "Who knows, maybe mastering all three will give you immortality too, seemed to work for a couple of the Scouring heroes if legends are true." She wasn't... entirely certain on that one, Nayru sure as hell didn't know how Athos was still alive and she'd never SEEN Branimond so legends that he was still alive might well prove false. And Elimine certainly hadn't lived forever, so it wasn't a universal mage thing. But hey, never hurts to try to find out, right?
At any rate, Remus's commentary about the Church more or less lined up with her observations and opinions, though obviously significantly more detailed given that - well - he was a man of the cloth, and she was filthy atheistic godless heathen dragon scum. It did certainly leave her with some difficulty in internalizing the so-called Saint's teachings, to say the least. "There's something to be said for strong foundations in any pursuit - religion, martial arts, magic, life in general. You're right though, it's where you go from there that's important, and the Church..." Nayru shook her head, not needing much more to show her displeasure with the results - as if her tone did not already imply it. "The very people who are supposed to be healing the world are destroying it. You hear about the mass executions in Ilia? The whole Sacaen war? Kraft isn't trying to save the world, just purge it in holy fire. Gonna need a lot more people like you, men and women, young and old, to fix the damage that madman has done to your religion... if it can ever really be repaired at all."
The dragon had the sense not to point out her general dislike of deities and worship - the idea that people needed a god to tell them what was right and wrong. At least heroes were human... ish. They were flawed. There was the idea, the ideal rather, that if you were a good kid, if you grew up brave and strong and just, maybe you could be a hero too, because a hero wasn't a thing, but an ideal, something to aspire to. Gods were just something else entirely. Didn't really breed critical thinking, in her opinion. But that wasn't really a good subject to argue with Remus, and really as long as it wasn't used to hurt people Nayru didn't care as much about religion as a whole.
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Post by Remus on Jan 29, 2017 19:55:35 GMT -6
The desert was a strange place. How many times had he lamented that? The priest gazed ahead once more into the heated expanse that traversed the length of his sight, and likely that same distance hundreds of times over. Nayru hadn't been wrong before. The desert of Nabata in it's average was far more dangerous than Ilia in its average. He imagined that heavy snowfall could be just as deadly as walking along the monstrous dunes, and the biting cold did far worse for the body than the heat was doing to him because of his ability to stay hydrated. Which, while on the topic...
The priest quietly lifted his waterskin again and popped the top off before quietly drinking a bit more water. Enough to wet his throat, lips, and sate his thirst before he capped it once more. He was also grateful he'd brought multiple because the first one was beginning to feel dangerously light. Though, his attention averted as he nodded his head in agreement. Until...she mentioned the war.
Yes. He was all too familiar with the war. He'd never told Nayru but then again he clung to some small hope that she hadn't heard of it so he could further disassociate himself from it. It was...difficult. Perhaps now was a time to let that little demon out? His tone instantly dropped.
"I...know about Ilia. Sacae we heard about from time to time as the front moved but..I..was drafted into the Ilian Occupational Force. I was the second ranking member of the healing unit stationed there and well...yeah. I know about some of the executions. They occupied six smaller towns on the way to Remi, the city they intended to siege first. If..not for their fear of the church that they are so zealous for...I wouldn't have been able to save any of the townspeople. "
He paused. The priests eyes stained with a watery veil as he turned to gaze towards Nayru. Remus always had warn his heart on his sleeve.
"I couldn't just let them all die. So I had to heal them. Soldiers. Townsfolk. Citizens. I didn't care about which side. When I set up a healing ward in any of the towns..I healed who ever was brought to me. I never asked who they were, only where the wounds were. Then they would come. Soldiers angry that I healed the heathens.. They would claim I was a heretic. So I...I..I had to threaten them. I had to pretend to be with higher standing and threaten ill will upon their families or loved ones so I could save lives."
The priests voice started to shake a little. Though they did not stay visible long between the glossy sleek glisten of sweat upon his body, there were more prominent stains of twin trails going down his cheeks which were now just a little more red.
"I've never felt so cowardly...in all my life. Lying. Threatening innocent people who know none the worse with those lies just so I could live. Putting myself so heavily above others! I..I healed people..that would probably go on to kill others. I told myself I shouldn't but I knew that if I didn't I'd likely be killed...and..I couldn't ignore it! It's hard to call them monsters...when their crying in agony or pleading for their families. So I healed them. Just like I healed the Ilian people! But...I couldn't save them all. I told myself I couldn't. I knew I couldn't. That I had to just fix what broken things I could...but still. I see it. Headless bodies. Bisected corpses. Screams. Shouts. Insults. At others. At me. I just..I just...I don't..."
The priest gazed downwards. Not from brightness of the sun, or to examine his footing. But from the weight of shame. A secret burden long repressed, evoked at but a single mention of the events. His voice trailed off as he began to slowly recede inwards. For perhaps the first time, he did not know how to handle the disgust he felt for himself. And he was quietly shaking as his body followed that same repetitive motion of a walk forwards. The faintest of darkened spots briefly wetting the sand as tears fell atop the nabatan surface.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 29, 2017 21:38:00 GMT -6
"Oh, Remus." Well crap, that kind of took the wind out of her sails there. So much for a throwaway reference like what they'd discussed before; Remus's reaction, the way his emotions played on his face, his hesitation and regret, betrayed his guilt even before he actually began explaining it. A small part of her noted that someday she was gonna have to teach him how to lie or at least what a poker face was, but the moment was not exactly the best time to slip into casual sarcasm and light humor. "I'm sorry." What was she realy apologizing for, though? Bringing up painful memories? The tactless tone she had used? The momentary mental digression? Nayru wasn't entirely certain, but she also wasn't certain it mattered. Whatever the case, she had been the one to sabotage the conversation, even if unintentionally. All she could do now was hear him out.
As she listened, though, the dragon found it surprisingly hard to envision. Trying to imagine Remus threatening anyone itself nearly put her mind into the equivalent of cardiac arrest, but it seemed as though he had lived that and worse, and the experience had scarred him. Given his overall softness and aversion to suffering, and how he tried to never hurt anyone, it wasn't hard to see how arduous of a burden that must have been, to live surrounded by the hell on earth that was war, especially an Etrurian crusade. Probably worse than most of what she'd gone through in all honesty; despite her age Nayru wasn't really used to the unrelenting horrors of war, having avoided it her entire life.
"Hey. Hey." The dragon slowed down her walk to match Remus's movement and draped one arm over his shoulders, not exactly a hug but some gesture of tenderness, at least as much as the crass woman was capable of. "You're the one who keeps telling me that I should look at the good I've done to counter the bad. Internalize it. Your helping me has helped us both save lives. You've saved plenty of lives on your own as well." Nayru wasn't sure if it sounded all that genuine and meaningful like she'd hoped, Remus was the guy who did inspirational speeches not her, but it was the best she could do for now. "And I guess now you have a personal reason to work to make Etruria a better place, mm?"
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Post by Remus on Jan 29, 2017 21:57:47 GMT -6
Remus probably would've retreated further into his depressive little shell that was trying to erect itself, but that notion, and the shell were shattered as Nayru extended her arm and wrapped it around his shoulders. The blue haired priest was quietly drawn to gaze at her as the dragoness spoke in softer tones and said kind things to him. There was the sniffle at first as the priest attempted and failed to compose himself. His eyes slightly lined in a red almost puffy section before he lifted a hand to wipe his forearm to and along his eyes while "drying" his cheeks. Dry not quite applicable because he was still sweating and the desert still sucked in conjunction with the sun. The priest was almost forced to smile instinctively at her kindness. Her words evoking a smile that forced its way to the surface despite the gloom he felt.
It was a sad smile at first, but it was a smile. The priest lifted his gaze to meet hers and lightly leaned into her, a brief allocation of weight merely indulging in the comfort of her embrace before he leaned back and simply allowed her to drape her arm over his shoulder. Comfort it might've brought, but he was aware that she did not have a special fondness to overly affectionate moments and the priest was still slightly conscious of this. Regardless, he nodded as his demeanor began to pick up, though the brief lapse of composure now had his head hurting a little and his eyes stinging slightly. The priest spoke up quietly while his hands clasped his staff a bit closer to his figure.
"I....Thank you...Nayru. I'm um...not good at following my own advice most of the time. So just...thank you. Ah...I will do my best to bring Etruria up if I can. To at-least try and help others see the merits in what we've discussed."
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