2018-03-15: There to Catch Us

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  • Log: There to Catch Us
  • Cast: Hiro, Riesenlied
  • Where: Vane
  • Date: 15th March 2018
  • Summary: Riesenlied meets Hiro as he fixes up the Guildmaster's house. They discuss what has happened, and how to hold one's resolve when the going gets rough...


<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

Vane's library...

Was not the glorious hall of knowledge it was back in the day. Most of the best history books had been removed due to wear and tear and age. The more powerful and forbidden tomes were locked up. It was a wretched hive of dust and moths.

"But it's the best we've got! So let's get started!"

Hiro says as he thumps down a whole stack of books, raising a cloud that could match a Filgaian sandstorm. Ruby and him both began to hack and cough.

Putting down his Grandpa's Journal and turning it to the section on the Year of Darkness. He picked up the first book... and started to turn the pages.

-=-=-

2 hours later

"Ruby can you see if you can't find a book on uh... that incident that caused the four heroes to disband... it's on the tip of my tongue... dark evil guy..." He snaps his fingers. "On it!"

1 hour later

Hiro calls out, "Any luck in Lemina's collection?" "... Lemina's private section is all get rich quick books. And ahaha... you don't need to see this one... it's about ways for girls to save money..."

He rubbed his temples and sighed.

-=-=-

6 hours later

-=-=-

His eyes fell heavy as he translated his 12th account of the Magic Emperor to receive no details on how he actually /looked/. Then his eyes lit up, "... ... ... Okay here we go. Apparently he was..."

Ruby was way ahead of him, "Menacing!? We already knew that one! There's not a single detail to be found!"

In frustration Hiro's head thumped down on the desktop. "... Let's take a break." "Finalllyyyy!"

-=-=-

Vane needed patching up /everywhere/ and so Hiro busied himself with hammering a board against a broken window outside the library. Apparently there'd been an icicle incident through it a few days ago from a kid mastering ice spells for the first time. Thump. Thump. Thump. Ruby meanwhile sunned herself on the rooftop overhead. "Really Hiro? This is your idea of a break?" "Yep."

Getting around and moving after a half day of research... definitely.

"Weirdo. We should just go have fun being I dunno... tourists."

Hiro wasn't going to be the person to depressingly point out - 'There's not much to see.' Instead he just kept hammering nails. Did I mention that he doesn't have a ladder, and that he's literally hanging upside down from a rope while he works? Well that's just his way.


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"'eeey!"

The voice is familiar, calling out from behind. "Heard you needed more boards and nails around here-- whoa?!"

Janey nearly drops the shingles she's hoisted over her shoulder, with a grin. "Hey, it's Hiro! And Ruby!" She gives them the biggest, toothiest grin the Lord of Calamity ever will. (You know, since Heldalf is more about 'grrr' and Lucia is more about 'oh dear').

Riesenlied paces a little behind Janey to say, "Janey, don't run with the wood, you might hit someone accidentally--oh?"

The Hyadean looks up with a quiet smile to say, "Hiro... I had heard you'd arrived at Vane... it's good to see you..."

Riese is... Riese, in that she's of course got bandages covering what looks like a nasty head wound. She's also replaced her dress, wearing a sleeveless white and blue gown of Baskar tradition, with flaring detached sleeves patterned like the feathers of a great blue bird.

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

"Janey!" Ruby's up in a flash, flitting down rapidly using the wind of those elevation for to her advantage. "Hey that's pretty helpful since Hiro insists on being a numbskull here and patching stuff up in his spare time rather than... I dunno - ANYTHING ELSE!"

From where Hiro hangs, he starts waving with a hand full of nails, fingers clenched down upon them so he doesn't inadvertently lose one. "Yo Janey! Hey thanks for the help!" He has this dopey wide upside down grin, "Though you should be a good girl and listen to Riese there."

Deciding that the window could wait, he let's go with his legs and how they're gripping the rope, performing a mid-air flip, to land upon his feet. Stuffing the nails in a leather pouch, he slides the hammer into his belt. "Glad to see you made it here too Riese. Enjoying yourself here in Vane?"

"I'm not sure /how/ she could be Hiro."

Eyeing her though - seeing all the wounds, Hiro crosses his arms and asks quietly... "The locals haven't been giving you any trouble right?"


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"Aw, shucks, don't be too harsh on him Ruby! I like whackin' things together in my spare time too!" Janey's grin gets even bigger, as she sets the board down. "You can't spell romance without D-I-Y, after all...!"

Janey puts a foot up to a board and looks like she's a captain gazing off into a vista as she says that. ... ... ...

Riesenlied looks impressed at Hiro's acrobatic feat, nodding as she says, "I owe Miss Miria and Lemina for allowing me to stay and recuperate..." She looks towards Hiro's gaze, and shakes her head--

"No, no! Everyone here has been so kind. This was..." A pause. "Ah, I was... we had fought Berserk, at that tower in the Pleasing Garden. He... he nearly took my life there, when he grasped my head. If it weren't for Noeline and the others..."

A pause, and a sigh. "But now he is gone..." Yet she can't feel that good about it.

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

"Well sure but usually he likes whacking things with a sword and that's /way more exciting/!" Hiro just shakes his head without offering too much explanation, "I just thought I'd mix it up." But frankly it's because he's concerned about the state of Vane.

"Whoa!? I heard about that but I didn't know you were a part of it..." "So... he is dead."

Hiro shifts uncomfortably, looking off into the distance, "I can't bring myself to be too sad about that... but... not exactly happy either."

Snapping himself out of it, he looks her way giving her a more serious look. He knows Siegfried was her friend so he owes it to her to say something, "... Siegfried was assaulting the other end too. A lot of us fought him... I'm pretty sure he's still alive but..."

"... but he was blasted away in a way where well..."

"Yeah. ... I think I saw a glimpse of the kind of guy he used to be. The kind of guy that let him be your friend. It... didn't make it easy."

He looks profoundly uncomfortable. Ruby settles on Janey's shoulder. "Doesn't matter what he used to be if he's choosing to do this right now."

Hiro's eyes lid and he takes a deep breath, shunting that off to the side, "... So I heard that Wayside didn't make it. Are all your people okay Riese?"

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Janey squints and goes, "It's not the size of the tool, y'know, it's how you use it," as she puts her hands behind her back with a bit of a cackle.

Riesenlied nods very slowly, looking towards Hiro to say, "It did seem like the Photosphere was launching a direct attack. Lady Harken was there in our tower as well. ..."

She bites her lip. "Yes... I was drawn there by-- Odoryuk. His voice called out to me, and... in the brink of it, when I'd fallen into the darkness, his energy sustained me."

She trembles as she sucks a breath and... "I... managed to connect through to him somehow... and materialised him long enough to break open the device he was using to shatter a protected statue."

She glances towards Hiro when he describes Siegfried, thinking a little longer about that. "... I remember when you called me on my complacence, back at that Temple. You were right, of course, but..."

She laces her hands together, eyes closed. "I do not exaggerate when I say I love Lord Siegfried, like a father. I... I still do, to be honest. He taught and raised me, and it is no exaggeration to say much of what I am today is a result of his guidance."

The Hyadean timidly lowers her head as she displays a look of regret. "... but thanks to you all, I can now see clear enough where I'd neglected to speak for long enough. How vengeance clouds his judgement... and leads him down that slippery slope..."

There's a bit of silence, and Wayside comes up. Janey shifts along and decides to speak up:

"Oh! Yeah, that jerk came up, the Demon of Elru -- but we went, WHOOSH! And ran away from the explosion in a sweet snazzy skyship of ours, the Fereshte! We didn't even look back at it, like cool kids!!"

She squints.

"Then a bunch of sky jerks came around, called Gebler? They bullied us again? And then we crashlanded in the Pleasing Garden and uhh--"

Whooosh, she makes the hand motion of a blinking ship.

"It's... somewhere. We've been tryin' to look for it. 'Have you seen our skyship' signs might be too suspicious though."

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

"Huh!? ... ... Where'd you hear that one from Janey?" Ruby asks Janey suspiciously, "Did Noeline teach you that?"

Hiro blinks his eyes several times as Riese indicates she managed to connect to one of the Guardians, not sure he heard that one right. Then he manages a smile, "Hey, you did it. Looks they're acknowledging the bridges you've been trying to build between your people and Filgaia."

He gives this light wave at the idea of Riese's complacence. Like he doesn't even think about that anymore. Like he's just going to even dismiss the thought of that. But-

"Riese..." Exhaling nasally he looks a little sheepish. As he lets her finish. Then listens to Janey, startled, "He came back again?! What is it with that guy?"

Gebler too... he saw them of course, but he doesn't know real well what was going on there. Since... well...

"Hey Riese mind if we take a walk? Ruby... can you look after Janey for a bit?"

"Eh? Well sure Hiro! Hey Janey how about you show me your stuff. You've been practicing your shooting right?"

Hiro thumbs his way towards the other end of Vane, "I know a place..."

It's not a long walk since Vane is frankly not so big. Just a few blocks from the library. They come to this small park that's seen better days. Which is why there are no refugees encamped here - but that's what allows it to be private. Crossing his arms, he... sighs.

"So... yeah... you said something about vengeance clouds his judgement... and that just got me to thinking... after what he did to Lucia. I was so angry... so angry that I might have just... well..."

Running his fingers through his hair he doesn't finish that thought, "... I guess I came closer to seeing myself in him than I thought I would. He believed in a better world once... then I think he lost someone important to him... and I think that changed him."

Taking a few steps along the pavement at the edge of the high grass, he looks out towards the edge of the city, which has the same view you might imagine as a rural city on the side of a mountain. Blue sky, endless forest and fields...

"During the tournament a guy... told me that Drifters like me? They always break. And they turn into something horrible. The guy is a /killer/. And he was scared of me. And I thought he was being ridiculous..."

Crossing his arms he seems more uncomfortable than ever, "Guess I found out what he meant from your old friend... it was like... thinking that it wouldn't be too hard for me to become someone /like/ that... if I lost someone important to me. Just got consumed with thoughts of vengeance..."

After a moment he looks over his shoulder, turning to give Riese a chagrined look, "I think... I've realized some of the things I said back then to you... I don't think they were wrong? But I think I said them for the wrong reasons. Because I was angry at him - I wanted to lash out at what I saw as you being... passive in the face of the things he was doing. And I'm glad you took them to heart... because I think you've done really good things for your people."

He says quietly, "But I realized I need to let something go... because if all of my convictions are so weak that one bad day would do them all in..."

Putting a hand to his forehead, he chuckles, "I'm really no good at this. I guess what I'm saying is that when I see him again... I'm gonna be sure I'm fighting him for all the right reasons rather than the wrong ones. And... that I don't think it's wrong for you to love him - if he helped shape the woman you are today. Knowing now the kind of guy he was... well... I told myself I don't think I could ever forgive him. But now... I hope he can find his way back to that..."

He swallows, it feels like he's swallowing a lot of pride saying this, "... rather than... ending up like... well... how Berserk did."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"Huh? Uhh, I think I heard... Val talking about it? Something about cheering up the guy who was stuck with a ball-peen hammer for a hand, and she was like, "Don't let 'em shame your peen! It's not the size of the tool that counts!"

A pause.

"What's that supposed to mean anyway, Ruby?" Janey asks.

Away from the dread conversation about hammers, Riesenlied nods somewhat softly. Hiro may have forgiven her about it, but... she herself knows how important it was to realise that.

He asks her if they can talk, and she nods slowly as Janey looks to Ruby to go, "Oh, you'd better believe it! I can pop a bottle from thirty paces away now!"

...

Riesenlied places a hand to the side of her elbow as she listens to Hiro talk. They step forward. He talks of Siegfried losing someone important... and how that changed him. She's thought the same thing too, even if she does not know the tale of Enkidu at depth. But she knows of his devotion to Mother.

She lets him speak at his own pace, attentive, but not interrupting; she has a lot to think about as well, as well as what she'd say in turn to him. He ends the speech talking about Berserk.

"... even to the end, Berserk had full conviction and no regrets over the way he lived."

Riesenlied looks at that same view over the hill, hand to her heart. "The only way he knew how to live..." A pause. "That's... why I truly want our young to be able to know different ways to live life. A life outside of... hostility, vengeance, and war. That there is choice, that there is strength in doing so."

She closes her eyes for a moment longer... then says, "Let me... let me relate to you a story. I was... involved in a horrific battle several weeks ago. With Leon, Lily... with people I'd come to view as close friends."

She can still feel the throb of pain from where the Fallen Sword had risen once more from her chest.

"I was... beyond frightened. I was mortified. I watched Lily, Josephine... run ahead of me -- I greatly feared that this mechanical enemy would consume them. An enemy that could understand no words of mine, no empathy--"

She trembles. "At that moment, I thought the only way I'd be useful to them would be to... to become a Metal Demon once more. To use the weapon that I could create, and impose violence upon it..."

She sucks in a breath, nearly in tears at recalling that moment. "I felt horrified and shocked at my decision. Like you said-- like every conviction I'd built up until now had just been washed away in the span of a moment's notice."

Riesenlied eases her mind to think of kinder things. "But they didn't reject me. Fei said... that not everyone gets it right the first time -- that it's a journey, not a destination. Lily lectured me for ever thinking I would value the machine over the person that I was... h-hehe..."

She blushes earnestly as she says, "And Noeline, of course... she told me that the things that I do, day after day, that make me, me... it can't just be washed away in the blink of an eye."

She finally looks back to Hiro. "So trust in your friends to have your back if you slip. In Lemina, in Jean, in Lucia..." Poor Ronfar. "Because you've also done some amazing things for them, right?"

She tilts her head as her smile warms. "The company that we keep... I think that is what allows us to heal and grow stronger, to keep from being that horrible thing that person mentioned to you."

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

"Huh!? They were talking about hammers uhhh ... ... Riese will tell you when you become the Lord of Calamity." She's real excited to move on to, "How about you show me! I'll set some bottles up!"

-=-=-

It's strange hearing Berserk died full of conviction over the way he lived. Hiro knows that Berserk was a bully who believed might makes right. That sort of conviction is the kind he could live without... but... Berserk really died believing in that until the end.

It causes him to squirm a little uncomfortably.

He listens to Riese talk about the horrible battle she was involved in with... the horrible decision she made. "Riese..."

But he trails off and doesn't say anything. He let's her finish.

And when she's done talking about him - and his friends.

"Heh... that sounds like Lily."

Hiro allows this little smile as he thinks about it, "The kind of battles Lily and Leon were involved in... it's like they live in a different world. Where one considers doing whatever it takes to survive. Using any and every means. She once... got into a boxing match with me because she thought I didn't have what it takes to protect Lucia... that I wouldn't do whatever it takes..."

He shakes his head, "Maybe at the time I wasn't really thinking, but I said I did. Then I got to thinking about the kind of world Lily lives in." Rubbing his hand over his other, "I think when you touch upon that world... you think about stuff you ordinarily wouldn't... because it's like the world has gone mad... and it makes you go a little crazy too trying to deal with it."

Inhaling audibly through his nostrils again, "I don't think you need to feel ashamed and horrified of that... I think you just have to figure out what kind of person you are... and want to be... and I think I realized that when I said that... I did mean it. That I'd do whatever it takes..."

He smiles at her, "... to protect someone I care about. But it also made me realize that I wanna be the kind of guy where whatever it takes doesn't mean subsuming your convictions and submitting to 'the way things are.' Letting that... take you over."

After a moment's thought, "Jean... was a part of something terrible. I believe that if she needed to, she'd kill someone to protect us. And I wouldn't like it... but I realized against Siegfried... it'd be easy enough to do the same thing, to give into that madness for just a little while. To slip, to falter." Crossing his arms he allows a smile, "But I know Jean would go back to trying right away. That she wouldn't let it become easier for her to kill. That she'd strive to be better than that."

He manages a little smile at that, he seems proud of her despite his dark comment, "So... I think it's okay to slip, to falter, and I don't think that undermines your convictions if you try /harder/ to go back to being what you want to be... to become stronger from it. I think you're right... that our friends... they're the key... because whenever we do slip up... they'll always be there to catch us and remind us of what we want to be."

After a moment, "... Anyhow I'm proud of you Riese. You've come a long way from where you started." He looks up, "... ... ... and I guess that's pretty literal too given that we're on another world now. Ahem." He clears his throat, "So uh... do you and your people have any plans now that you're on Lunar?"

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Ah, the timeline where Janey actually becomes Lord of Calamity: a Working Designs masterpiece indeed. Where's Dirty Harry when you need him?!

"Yes..." Riesenlied does nod softly in turn. "Noeline... Noeline apologised to me as well after, you know?"

She shifts and explains, "She said that she apologised for thinking that Berserk had to go, no matter what -- that in her view, Berserk was an absolute wall against the kind of peace I desired, that she wanted to see him erased and out of the way."

She places a hand to her other elbow, as she takes a moment to lower herself and sit down on that grassy hill. "So I think I know where you're coming from with Jean. And it's our duty to not neglect them when they slip too..."

There's a soft nod. "I think you and I really both want similar things. We want to protect those dear to us... but to still have principles, so that what we do does not corrupt us."

She looks up towards the shine of the sun behind the clouds. "That's... the new world she spoke of to me. The new world that I seek."

There's a smile. "Thank you, Hiro. I think you've come a long way yourself -- I feel really happy being able to see you mature in your journey."

Hiro brings her back to more practical topics, though, and she gives that some thought.

"Our skyship, the Fereshte... it must have came with us somewhere -- from what I heard, the Elw teleporter brought /everything/ in Lost July. I just... have not heard of news where. So that would be our first step... finding them. In the meantime, I really identify with Vane's problems, so of course I'd help Miss Miria... and, of course, I'll continue to help you with the Guard and other problems as well, as they arise."

Little does she know Taben's Peak just got a new decorative figurehead... and a whole gaggle of spunky orphans...

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

"She did huh? That sounds like it was a hard thing for her to do..." But he's not surprised. Noeline had ever been Riese's confidante, and he always thought that for all Noeline's act on being her own person... that Riese had changed her a great deal in their time together.

"If anyone can find the new world, I feel it's you Riese..." It feels good to be told that he's grown, and changed, and matured... but he has trouble seeing it. Probably because every time he thinks about it, he just sees K.K. staring at him silently like a child that just said something stupid.

"Well I'm glad you're helping Miria out because... this place has a lot of problems. Vane has a storied history so I never imagined coming here and... it turning out to be like this... it's like seeing one of those places you always looked forward to and being... a little disappointed... but I look at it and just think of how it could be that way again one day..."

He shifts a bit, "Right now we're looking to get an audience with Blue Master Lunn in Meribia and for passage to Pentagulia... which is not surprisingly... very hard to get, so while we're in the region, if you need any help searching for the Fereshte... just let us know."

There's a long pause and then Hiro raises a finger, "... so uh... maybe I misheard you but did you really say skyship?"

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied thinks fondly about her partner in life for a moment. As much as she has lamented and cried over her leaving her two hundred years ago... it's clearly done a world of good for her -- and now that they're together again... now, they're finally ready.

"Miria is someone I can really learn under..." Riesenlied admits freely. "Maybe I lack the history, but... perhaps in a way it really makes me able to appreciate how tenacious this place is, troubled as it is..."

She listens in on Hiro's plans, raising her eyebrows. "Blue Master Lunn... I see..." She tilts her head. "I'll help as well, however I can, of course... but--"

She coughs a bit embarrassedly. "It seems the Althenan Guard are quick to assign my bounty here in Lunar. The Deceiver is now known to another world..."

A pause. "Oh... yes--" She tries to explain it. "There was an ancient carrier that dwelled under our village, the reason we set shop there in the first place. We..."

She squints, and then Janey looms around the corner.

"We cut half of it off that stuck up above the ground, then stuck a boat underneath it and BAM! Skyship!!"

That's... that's not how engineering...

"That's how Wayside engineering works!"

This narrator has summarily been owned.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Lydia can be seen laughing against a black backdrop during the narrator spiel.

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

Hiro bobs his head in complete agreement on Miria - but then she mentions how they instantly assigned her bounty here on Lunar, "That's gotta be a mistake... I mean I'm still seeing all of our bounty posters up too and... they /saw/ that Lucia isn't the Lord of Calamity. I mean it's obvious now."

And yet he certainly looks worried when hearing that Riese's is up on Lunar... as he murmurs, "Are they really holding a grudge against you across worlds?"

Shaking off that grim thought, "Anyhow - thanks Riese. We'd sure appreciate any kinda help you can offer because... well... eheh..." He rubs the back of his head, "... back on Filgaia we could move around a lot more freely than we can here. We're only allowed in Vane because Lemina's mom runs the place after all."

Then INTERRUPTING JANEY and Hiro suddenly whirls around, an arm held out defensively, "What really!? I remember that thing..."

That's not how engineering works?

Well Hiro doesn't know that.

Instead he looks excited, "That is SO COOL! Dang! I wish I could have been there to see it's maiden flight!"

"Eh. What do they need a skyship for when they've got a /dragon armada/?" "Uh... well just think of the boat as a platform /for/ their dragons to take off and land from..."

Ruby suddenly gasps.

"NEVERMIND THAT IS /SO COOL/!"


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"Right?!?!" Janey exhults in turn. "The Dragons have totally taken to it already! Just imagine them perched up on the deck ready to launch at any given notice!"

THE REALITY, RIGHT NOW:

Muni-Muni rolls to another side so she can take advantage of her perch to get more of that glorious Lunarian sun. "Munyu... zz..."

BACK TO VANE

"I think they instilled all the Metal Demon bounties, not just mine," Riesenlied explains. "It... probably makes sense, I suppose, if a threat from Filgaia suddenly made its way back here..."

She lowers her head with a chuckle. "It won't stop me from helping those in need. I know that much."

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

"Awesome!" The two echo together, having no idea of what's /really/ going on up there. Ruby would still think it's cool anyhow because she thinks Muni Muni sunning herself is cool... but she's a dragon-loving nerd.

When Riese confides that it's all the bounties though... Hiro rubs the back of his neck, "Yeah... but I was hoping..."

He trails off into the quiet... before considering, and starting over "Eh... I guess I was hoping that you know, your people... could get a fresh start here... I know you're determined to live on Filgaia but... it would have been nice to get a break where... you know... people could look beyond your history..."

He smiles anyhow, sucking in a breath, "I wouldn't suggest otherwise... you know. This world has a lot of problems too that need solving by people like us, it's definitely not perfect compared to Filgaia just... healthier in some ways."

"Yep! Well except for the malevolence but hey... I mean I'm sure Sorey is gonna take care of that now that he knows it's not /our/ fault."

And yet Hiro remembers the Shepherd unable to face Heldalf... having to flee from the domain the Trial Knight set up. He adds a - "Yeah." After that, but it doesn't seem quite as convinced on whether it's going to be easy for a legend to take care of it anymore.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied has a smile that suggests she's at peace with it. It would've been nice, she does admit, but... it doesn't change that she desires to do, in principle, and in action as well.

"I-- had a feeling I would cause trouble sooner or later... I--I mean, do you remember the story of that beastwoman from a Vile Tribe I told you about, long ago?" Riesenlied blushes earnestly as she says, "I feel like I probably would have still gotten into trouble trying to help people, hehe..."

She looks towards the Blue Star, in the distance.

"What one world lacks... the other has in abundance."

Riesenlied glances to Hiro again and says, "I've never forgotten those words of the Trial Knight's. I'm convinced, with all we've seen, that helping Lunar is also helping Filgaia. And you've helped us so much with our problems... the least we can do is assist you in turn."

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

"I remember you telling me about her... but not really her story." Hiro says after a moment's thought, "We haven't run into her yet."

Rubbing the nape of his neck a little awkwardly, "It's..." Hiro nods at Riese saying she thinks she'd get in trouble anyhow. "... after we speak to Althena, I'm gonna tell her that what I've learned in our travels is that we shouldn't let history define how we treat other people. Maybe the Vile Tribe will hate and resent us still... but maybe the first step is just telling them we'd like to try to build a future hand in hand... and trying to welcome them back."

He makes this gesture that's like a circle, "Else it might just keep happening. There might be another magic emperor... and another stoking these old hatreds. What we're seeing on Filgaia with your people should be evidence enough - right?"

"I dunno. I still think we need to be more cautious than inviting them back in. Maybe just... sending them food? Talking with them. It feels like doing everything too quickly is a recipe for disaster."

Hiro though arches an eyebrow at her mention of the Trial Knight... clearing his throat, "What... exactly did he say? He seemed to be someone who... knew something about Lucia."

And for some reason her connection to the two worlds strikes a chord with him in regards to this conversation.


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied nods slowly, thinking that Tipheria didn't really mention her story all too deeply either... it's understandable, given that caution would be the order of the day.

"That sounds great. To be honest with you... when we're at a time where we can devote all our effort to it... Wayside and its resources will no longer go under the Ebony Wings' banner." She tilts her head. "I want to instead head a humanitarian group... focused on delivering aid and relief to those who need it most. A group that focuses on outreach, helping those not native to Filgaia to integrate..."

She smiles bashfully. "So of course, I'd help you all that I can with that endeavour. Because I feel the same way..."

She looks to Ruby. "And that's true, as well. Understanding is not something you achieve in a single day -- it takes time to heal the wounds of yesteryear. But if you don't try..."

A pause, as Hiro clears his throat. She shifts a little.

"Ah..." Riesenlied looks just a bit less comfortable, perhaps thinking she shouldn't mention it casually. "It was when I spoke with them of the topic of Malevolence. What one world lacks... the other has in abundance, they said."

She looks to the Blue Star.

"It is true of greenery too, is it not? Filgaia is a barren world, yet it lacks in Malevolence, which I can sense even ambiently around us here..." She presses her lips.

"I apologise. ... I seem to have-- this habit of forming bonds with those that-- oppose us..." she looks hesitant. +vote: You have voted for Hiro.

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

Hiro gives Riese this queer look as she discusses her bond with K.K. Then after a moment he just breaks out laughing lightly, "Well that's just like you isn't it? To try to make your enemies into your friends. I'm not exactly gonna begrudge you for talking with them..."

Rubbing the side of his nose, he considers, "That sounds like a pretty great idea... maybe sometime in the future our two worlds... we can kinda form a symbiotic relationship... if we can find a way back and forth. One world helps the other... I mean we have a surplus of crops here on Lunar. I'm not saying noone goes hungry but..." But the implications are pretty obvious.

Still it's also not lost to him that between the Hyadeans, the Veruni and Solaris... that just sending relief aid to Filgaia won't solve all of its issues.

"Hehe... it's pretty hilarious. No offense but I like it that you're starting a 'humanitarian' group when you're not human... I bet people will go: 'Oh no I bet humanitarian is a word like vegetarian! The scaryyyyy metal demons are gonna come eat us all!' and then you're handing out bandages and rations..."

Hiro puts a palm to his face, "Rubyyyy... can't you just say 'Hey that sounds great! I'm behind that 100 percent!'" "Where's the fun in that? I've never ever read anything which ever says that a dragon of Althena has to be a complete girl scout or something Hiro!"


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"... thank you. It's... complicated," is the best way Riesenlied can put it without expressing it into a long-winded speech. "I cannot forgive them for what they have done, and they expect none. They have even told me we will come to blows in the future, yet..."

Yet that dialogue... keeping it going is so important to her.

But it's pretty telling that Riese isn't human, because her response to Ruby is to look embarrassed and-- stammer--

"H-huh? W-wait, is it like that? Did I get the word wrong??" Riesenlied panics a little. "I thought-- well, it's a human term-- but I thought it was a concept and didn't refer to humans..."

Her horns are wiggling up and down in consternation!!

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

"No no you got it right!"

"Don't tell her Hiro! You should let her sweat a little!"

"No way!"

"Jannneyyy I need you to pick up the slack and help me tease your mom since Hiro is a wet blanket!"


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Janey folds her arms with a stern expression.

Her eyes flash with a knowing gleam, as she achieves a zen-like insight!

"Hyadetarian moussaka and mezze with a tuber salad--"

A fat cucco sits on her head, all of a sudden.