2017-05-07: The Weight of the World
- Log: The Weight of the World
- Cast: Riesenlied, K.K.
- Where: Old Petra
- Date: May 7, 2017
- Summary: Riesenlied and K.K. exchange the progress they've made in their plans... and discuss the nature of Malevolence and what it does to human potential.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Old Petra.
Once, many years ago, this town was one of those so-called 'iron rush' colliery towns; as the story goes, a prospecting family struck a proverbial gold-mine of iron and rushed the development of the community around the cliffside Petra Mines. However, as the iron veins died down, and the demand shifted towards other things, iron fell by the wayside in favour of other minerals and rare artifacts found in Ruins... and the town eventually lost its spirit. Couple that with unsavoury rumours disappearances of townsfolk due to 'cave-ins' and an increasing crime rate, and even the staunchest of sheriffs had to pack up and go.
Now, all that's left of that town is its husk... which serves the Metal Demons just fine.
Riesenlied has been quite busy in directing their forces to re-excavate the mine and the town around it. Kalve's advanced algorithms and equipment have been vital in standing up a hard-light prop of fake townsfolk to go around and do their pre-programmed routines.
Soon, they'd be ready.
Would she be ready?
The winged woman stands atop a cliff overseeing the development, eyes closed as she spends time in focus...
<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.
"You are troubled."
... focus cut through with the resounding declaration of a voice.
Perhaps it's familiar, if only in how strange it is; tinny and neutral, a voice thats nature has been obscured by the all-encompassing helmet that muffles it. The distinctive figure of the night in white stands atop that cliff behind Riesenlied as if they had always been there if one had simply looked hard enough before, warm wind gushing through the pristine cloth of their armor. Their words might be a question, from anyone else's lips. This one seems more of a matter-of-fact in how decisive K.K. utters it.
"You should not be." Rock crunches beneath booted heels as the knight advances; hands clasped behind their back, helmeted head bowing in Riesenlied's direction in a show of respect, the knight does not stop their certain advance until they are exactly where they need to be -- overlooking the gutted carcass of a town that was once Old Petra. "Things are proceeding apace. Your strategy is sound, and has been supplemented by our own efforts. Your enemy knows not the form you take amongst them." That faceless mask tilts, as if to peer at the Metal Demon, the weight of their gaze obvious if not the presence of it.
"Every conceivable advantage is yours, Riesenlied. Victory need only an assured hand to grasp it."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied opens her eyes slowly, without turning even as K.K. approaches her. "This is but a single battle. But what we Hyadeans fight for is a war for our continued existence..."
She holds her hand out, gently, perhaps symbolic of how it dithers as opposed to the firmness and certainty of a grasped fist. "And I do not believe it is so simple as to win battle after battle, and excel at military strength and dominance... perhaps therein lie my troubles."
She pauses, and then quietly shakes her head and turns towards K.K. "I hope that your own plans are proceeding smoothly, K.K."
<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.
"So it is the future that concerns you." K.K.'s gaze turns once more towards the town beneath them as they speak; the soft sound of metal ringing against metal chimes in the open air as their index finger taps against the back of a gauntleted hand. Is is not so simple as to win battle after battle, she says.
"Then what do you believe it to be? What is in this future you see?"
It's a question the knight is content to let lie, lingering in the air as the subject turns towards their own activities. The knight shakes their head simply. "As well as could have been expected," is their first, sincere assessment. "But they work towards the favor of you and yours regardless. Seeds have been planted in western Adlehyde and have born fruit. Perhaps you have heard of the recent rash of aggression amongst the wildlife in this region?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Yes... I have spoken to a few of the Drifters that are involved. There is a kind of energy, 'Malevolence', they called it..." Riesenlied taps at her chin and says, "It is in line with what Agatha told me during our earlier meeting. A kind of energy that was not present in Filgaia once, but came after the descent of the Lord of Calamity."
She glances towards K.K., turning more fully towards the Trial Knight. "I cannot claim to be able to see or even sense it, however... but from the accounts I have heard, it corrupts or twists humans and wildlife in some fashion?"
There is... perhaps a small measure of distaste in her voice, but it isn't major. And it isn't stopping her from inquiring more. She isn't willing to let herself be prejudiced on a topic she understands little about, after all.
<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.
"You have spoken to them," K.K. echoes, that muffled voice almost thoughtful in its own, decisive way. It barely lasts a moment before their head dips in a single nod. "You are correct. 'Malevolence' is what they choose to term it, brought here through agents of Calamity. It is the face of impurity, made manifest. Through it, man's sins are exposed for what they are."
As Riesenlied turns, though, as that mote of disapproval touches the edge of her tone, K.K. turns their head to stare at the Metal Demon -- faceless though it is, they seem perhaps contemplative. "You nor yours have the qualities essential towards knowing its touch," the Trial Knight says in lieu of anything else. "It is not so easily controlled, but in this much, it is a suitable tool for your needs. The creatures infected by it become what are known as 'Hellions.' Most are mindless. Some... are not." K.K.'s right hand stretches out, as if to gesture beyond them -- in the vague direction of... "It is they who attacked Port Timney. In their panic, Adlehyde will divert forces to that city, to protect and rebuild it. In the ensuing scramble to commit resources towards uncovering the source of this plague they know nothing about, they will spread resources already thin from their festival. The castle will be vulnerable to you and yours. It shall ensure your strike is quick and decisive."
And it is here that the knight finally turns, finally faces Riesenlied fully as well, the crunch of rock beneath their pivot barely audible over the sound of what seems an earnest, if not direct, question, "I would hear your thoughts. What do you think of this Malevolence, Riesenlied?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
A tool, says K.K. Riesenlied could not deny that. In the wake of what they seek to do, their options are not infinite. They could not be choosy about what they accept and what they reject. However...
The Knight asks her of her opinion, and she closes her eyes again.
"I personally... would not use it, and I think it is appropriate that I speak my mind. I wholeheartedly believe that a life should be allowed to mature and reach its true potential. In my travels of Filgaia, I have seen many things that restrict the growth of a person. Social constructs. Cultural constructs. And at times, substances that rob one of mind, body and spirit."
She lowers her head. "Wasted potential is... wasted life. I do not know enough of the experience of Malevolence to judge, so I will not. But that would be my fear of it. That it prevents the unlocking of true strength, through oppression and control." I think back to what you said to me, when we first met... that strength is not gained, but earned. Would you say this is a test for humans, to separate the worthy from the unworthy?"
<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.
"One does not reach their full potential simply by yearning for it."
The words come in a tone that might sound cold -- harsh, perhaps -- if not for how painfully earnest it is. As Riesenlied's head lowers, K.K.'s stays straight ahead, their bearing unflinching and uncompromising as if one could just picture the strength of absolute confidence in the stare beneath. The posture of someone possessed of unwavering certainty. "Without the bindings of a cage, would a bird know truly how liberating it is to fly? True potential can only be reached by knowing the pain of not having it in one's grasp. Malevolence is the bars that hold that bird back... and it is also the thing that makes it realize the euphoria it feels when it truly takes flight."
Is this a test for humans? To separate the worthy from the unworthy?
"There is no such thing."
Whether K.K. means there is no such thing as 'worthy' humans or 'unworthy' humans, however, they do not say; instead, they turn their gaze onto Petra, that emptied husk of a town once a tribute to the human spirit of exploration... now a scar hiding a very specific rot. "You will rob many people of their potential in the days to come, Riesenlied. That is the nature of war. No matter how noble your intentions, war is the atrocity of man. There is a reason there is no more fertile soil for Malevolence on this earth nor any other than a battlefield." Hands falling to the Trial Knight's side, they regard Riesenlied for a quiet moment.
"... there is beauty in a life that has reached its potential. There is nothing more precious in this world. And nothing more tragic to see that potential robbed, for it will affect so many other things beyond it. All will be lesser for it. Believe that for the absolute truth it is." They are quiet, for a brief, palpable moment. And then:
"And know that, by committing yourself to this course of action your people are set upon, you too will be one of those things that restrict the growth of a person.
"Are you prepared to shoulder that burden?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
No more fertile soil for Malevolence...? Was the green of Earth connected to Malevolence in some manner? Is it what they call the spirit of the Earth, of life upon the ground? There is much that she does not know, yet. So much that she wishes to understand. That they seek to claim a world they don't know about... that was one of the greatest risks, in her mind. Is this truly the new world that they seek? What does Mother intend for them, truly?
Riesenlied turns once more to face Petra, as K.K. has. They gaze upon the town, in silence.
"The Taint in my blood, and the weakness that stems from it, is what made me yearn for understanding in a way I do not see in many of my brethren," Riesenlied speaks. "I know full well the desire for freedom that a cage brings... and it is empathy that has tempered me thus far."
She holds onto her chest as the winds start to blow, flinging her hair and tossing it forward. "Empathy and understanding brings pain. Great pain. But ignorance is a greater pain still. Arrogant and unchecked assumptions, blithe ignorance of facts and that which has happened before... I shall not permit a future grasped out of ignorance. That would only lead to our eventual destruction."
She extends her hand gently. "When I took on this task, no matter how noble, no matter how well-intentioned, I knew that I very well will become the enemy of the world."
There is silence again.
"And I am ready for it."
<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.
The Taint, she says. The declaration, and the words that come after it, seems to draw a considerate pause from K.K.; there is a certain weight to the knight's movements, efficient to the last, that is hard to place without an expression to read beneath the white polish of that faceplate that hides whatever lies beneath from sight. But no words come. Not yet, at least. Instead, they listen... and the sound of an exhaled breath from within that helmet is only scarcely audible.
"Then you need not be troubled about what the future may bring."
The winds catch at the cloth of the white knight's armor, rippling it within the unsteadiness of the breeze in stark contrast to the statuesque way in which the knight carries themself. The clawed, gauntleted fingers of their right hand briefly squeeze inward almost in a slight spasm, before it lifts -- and settles with certain, heavy weight on Riesenlied's shoulder.
"They call you Tainted, but it is not weakness," says the knight, in no uncertain terms. "But it comes with burdens heavier even than ignorance." The knight pauses. They look up towards the sky for the briefest of moments, before their next words come. Not uncertainly, far from it, but edged with something inscrutable in that tinny tone that sounds like it comes from experience.
"A word of advice, Riesenlied, before I leave you to your devices: be prepared. When they realize what you are, what you stand for, and what your people will do... it will be a blow to them more grievous and sharp than any the mightiest of your kind shall muster. You will scar them, irrecovably. Make what peace you require. Ensure you are truly ready for that inevitability."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied feels the grasp of that metallic hand on her shoulder. It feels heavy. Heavier than it should. It is the weight of responsibility, the weight of commitment.
There was a tone in K.K.'s voice that she could empathise with. Beyond the tinny nature of their voice, beyond the mask that they bear, there is a certain weight that they themselves have endured. And perhaps that is the bond that she can truly believe they share, at this point in time.
"You speak true. And I am in the path of doing so," Riesenlied says, lowering her hand... where it closes, ever so gently. It isn't the hand of someone who grasps without a second thought. "Thank you, K.K. Truly, I feel that I can speak to you of subjects that my brethren find difficult to comprehend."
Her wings spread gently, and she rises into the air. "Be well, my compatriot. I shall see you soon." Off she goes, into the air. She turns into a speck in the horizon as she glides, and then she is gone.
Perhaps it is not a matter of like or dislike, or even trust or mistrust. It is the camaraderie of those that walk this lonesome path less travelled, and the subsequent weight the world will bear down upon them in turn. It is a lonely path, and she's certain that K.K. knows... but it was still nice to be able to meet a like soul upon a crossroad, once in a while.