2018-03-25: Cry Over It
- Log: Cry Over It
- Cast: Riesenlied, Seraph Ragnell
- Where: Vane
- Date: 25th March 2018
- Summary: Ragnell encounters Riesenlied at the rolling plains outside Vane.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Vane has been blessed by the rolling, beautiful plains that surround it even centuries after its descent to the earth; it's in one of these outskirts that several adorable woodland critters bobble over, curious about a soft, harmonic tune that echoes with a genteel demeanor. It's a string instrument, played delicately and carried in the wind.
If one would check, the source comes from Riesenlied, who's currently playing her harp on a little picnic mat as a few squirrels sit by -- she's adorned in her new Baskar gown of white and blue, her arms flowing with detached sleeves ending like the feathers of a great blue bird.
The bandages are still on her head, but she seems determined to play today. Curiously, she's resting her harp near her lap rather than holding it at her side, perhaps a habit she's picked up from earlier musical training...
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Vane *is* a nice part of the world... sort of. The environment at least is pretty, if you don't pay too much attention to the dilapidated buildings that its citizenry use as housing. But although it's a poor city, it's poor because it takes care of its citizens, and that keeps Malevolence low... which means that it's a nice place for Seraphim to hang out at. Ragnell hasn't been by in a while, and she has time enough to take a look...
Or she would be if she hadn't caught the sound of a string instrument playing from somewhere in the nearby plains. It's a pretty enough melody to have also attracted various woodland creatures along with a certain Lightning Seraph, who doesn't *particularly* hide her approach but doesn't broadcast it either. And there she finds Riesenlied, on the harp...
Riesenlied's not the only one who's changed her outfit. Ragnell now wears a green tunic over a black undershirt, belted together at the waist with a pair of belts from which a gun holster hangs at each hip. The tunic is embroidered in gold laced at the chest, and hangs over muscular upper arms, which sport a pair of armlets, and her upper thighs, though they're slit at the sides up to her belts and likewise embroidered. Black, fingerless gloves decorate her hands, which match the pants she wears that tuck into a pair of knee boots. As much as it doesn't match the *rest* of her ensemble, she still wears her cowboy hat with the long feather and the paired rings.
Ragnell watches Riesenlied for a moment; then, assuming Riese doesn't hail her first, she hunkers down nearby, takes out her harmonica, and begins to play the counter-melody to the melody the Hyadean plays.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied blinks a few times, and then bashfully smiles as she finishes the little song -- which Ragnell would recognise is a folk melody from around these parts. Looks like she's been learning local tunes to try to broaden her repertoire. "Your playing sounds very good, Miss Ragnell... and I really enjoy the music the minstrels have shared with me. They're very heartfelt."
She hugs her harp gently as she hands her palm out for one squirrel to nip at a few acorns, and asks, "How... have you been?"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
When Riese speaks, Ragnell lowers her harmonica. She does indeed know that melody; her main takeaway is that it's just like Riese to do what she can to integrate herself with others. "Thanks," she replies. "You're not doin' too bad yourself, 'specially for songs I imagine you just recently learned." Even if she happened to learn them from Lunarians that came to Filgaia, she can't have heard them more than a year or so ago regardless. She half-smiles at the heartfelt comment, then taps her harmonica over her fingers.
How has she been? "Not bad, I s'pose. Things are 'bout the same as ever on Lunar, I've been findin'. It's just *moreso* of the same as ever in some parts. There *are* some new things to explore, though. Give that to humans: they know how to keep things fresh." She pauses. "How've you been handlin' yourself, on that note?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"... it's been a very long time since I've been able to play, but I suppose you just don't forget how to learn about some things," Riesenlied chuckles, nodding gently. "And they made it really easy for me to follow..."
She tilts her head gently and expresses, "I've been trying to not overexert myself, after Berserk..." A pause. "I do not remember if you were-- there for it. ... I spent most of that battle in the grasp of his hand, after all."
A very soft sigh, as her ragged wings flicker a little and tug by her side. "... being here has... been-- I've learnt a lot. ... I was nauseous and ill for the first couple of days until I got used to the ambient Malevolence around this world."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"...Not for that particular battle, nah," Ragnell replies, pulling up one leg to rest her elbow on her knee and her chin on her hand. "But you? Overexert yourself? Say it ain't so." Ah, there's that dry sarcasm of hers. She's absolutely unsurprised that Riesenlied might have thrown herself bodily at arguably the strongest, inarguably most violent of the Quarter Knights.
She nods at the news of Riese's reaction to the ambient Malevolence. "Yeah, if you're used to Filgaia an' you can sense the shit, comin' here must be a bit of a shock. It was somethin' of a shock for *us* to come to Filgaia and there's flat-out nothin'. Didn't feel real at first." A beat. "What've you learned, so far?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied cups her mouth for a moment, as she expresses, "... it was Odoryuk who called me to Lost July in the first place. There, I tried to help protect his statue, but... Berserk had found a way to smash the statue with a corrupted sealing rod."
She lowers her head and hugs her harp a little closer, even as a squirrel hops up to her shoulder as if to go, 'aww, cheer up!' Thanks, little squirrel. :3
"... I fell into a dark place, and it was his voice that helped bring me up. We... I somehow managed to Materialise him, using the energies that had spread from the statue. We... offed Berserk, in the end. He is no more..."
A pause, as she closes her eyes around the area.
"... there was one incidence where I was drawn by a voice, across the ocean. To Glenwood." She sighs shakily. "To a ruin of dragon-worshippers, known as the Tintagel. I found..." She holds out a feather, laced with the presence of Malevolence. "...this feather... as well as a foreboding message."
She furrows her brow. "'If the Goddess would forsake us... then we shall create our own'. This, I found in a large chamber... and I could not help but be reminded of your lesson of Fell Dragons."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell's eyebrows rise when she hears that Berserk had smashed the Statue with the help of a corrupted Sealing Rod. "Woah. Did he now? That's somethin' else. ...Did you know the Quarter Knights were workin' on somethin' like that, or...?"
She quiets for the rest of Riese's story, about using Odoryuk's power, Materializing him, and ultimately-- "'Offed'? 'Offed' as in 'killed'?" What other kind of offed is there? But Riese makes her meaning clear, and Ragnell nods thoughtfully. "Well, well. Color me impressed. 'Course, if they have more of those anti-sealin' rods or whatever, there'll be plenty more trouble in the days to come."
Then Riesenlied continues on about another story, about a voice leading her to the Tintagel Ruins. Ragnell's eyes narrow for this one. Her red eyes flick down toward the Malevolent feather. "Mmm," she murmurs. "The Tintagel Ruins. Yeah, I know that place. Even been in there recently. Takes all kinds, don't it? If those who're there to help you don't help enough, they turn to those who'd eat 'em alive an' spit out the bones." She shrugs, then shakes her head. "Humans. Am I right?" She doesn't expect Riesenlied to agree, but she says it anyway.
"Anyway, those ruins've been around a while. Not sure exactly how long, but at least several centuries," Ragnell continues. "I found some texts I'm gettin' translated in Lastonbell right now. Though I got a feelin' I know what they say, anyway..."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied shakes her head as she murmurs quietly, "No, it was news to me. Alhazred's designs of corrupting a sealing rod such that it can undo its seal... that is a bothersome, frightening development." She lowers her head. "I fear that we may be losing ground, trapped in Lunar as we are now."
She slowly nods... thinking of the sensation when she summoned Odoryuk again for a moment. The words he'd spoken.
"... I'm uncertain what it means. But I do know that something beckoned me to see it." She listens to Ragnell continue about Lastonbell and some translated texts... "In the same ruins, or...? What do you believe them to say?"
A pause.
"I also... K.K. also visited me, not far from here. We... we had a talk."
She hesitates, but seems like she really wants to say something.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"Hnnnh. Well, if we're lucky, maybe some of 'em got stuck on Lunar too," Ragnell points out. "'Course, that'd only be lucky for the Guardians. Can't say as I favor the odds of a planet that's completely unfamiliar with Hyadeans in combat against 'em. Guess we'll see one way or another. If we're *really* lucky, that rod was a unique prototype, an' with Berserk dead, there's no way to make another." Ragnell spreads her hands. "But I wouldn't count too much on Lady Luck bein' *that* kind."
The topic turns to Tintagel and the texts Ragnell found. She frowns slightly, then shakes her head. "...I'd rather not say before I'm sure. It's written in a dialect I'm not that familiar with, an' even a small change in meanin' in a few words can totally turn things around," she replies. "You know how it is, I'm sure."
Riese then mentions that K.K. visited her, that the two had a talk. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing she's mentioning just for the sake of mentioning. Ragnell eyes her for a moment to see if she'll continue on her own; then she prompts, "Yeah?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Lady Luck wouldn't be that kind...
Would Chapapanga?
Riesenlied nods very slowly, as Ragnell says she doesn't want to say until she's certain. Even a slight misinterpretation could distinctly change the tone or meaning of a text -- especially an ancient text.
"... I asked them... I asked them why."
She shakes her head, as she feels that sorrow, those tears from that day, come back to her. "Why Krosse? Why Wehaca? Why must humanity be judged as a whole, rather than as individuals that plague us with danger?"
She sighs and-- places her hand to her cheek. She sniffles. "I've glimpsed the love in their heart. It is genuine and overflowing. I think of the sensation I've experienced when I am at a low... so-- why..."
She shakes her head. "They asked me -- what it means, to truly love a thing..."
She bites her lip. "We spoke of you as well," she admits a little more lowly, a little more fragile.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Who knows? Chapapanga would probably answer likewise, at that.
"..." That's the sum of Ragnell's reaction as Riesenlied tells her of her questions, of what she has seen behind KK's armor, of why humanity must be judged in whole rather than in part. "I'm a little surprised you'd need to ask that, personally," she remarks. "Surely you've seen that anyone is capable of sin. Even if you couldn't see it on Filgaia--" She waves an arm all around it. "Here, it's a presence you can actually sense." A pause. "...Even if it's thinner'n usual here."
Talk turns to love, genuine and overflowing. Ragnell lowers her eyes, then raises them to peer at Riesenlied. "...And? What *do* ya think it means, to truly love something?"
'We spoke of you as well.'
"......................oh?" she asks, ever-so-lightly.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
There's a heavy, burdened look on Riesenlied as she hears Ragnell's response. It's a response that doesn't surprise her, given what she's heard Ragnell say about humans in general.
"... I don't know," Riesenlied whispers. "The easy answer -- the one I have now -- is to do anything for it, no matter how painful or torturous. And on its surface, it seems like the path of the Trial Knight's."
She drapes her arms tighter and says, "... but if it means hurting others, then of course I can't stand for it. I can't abide in a trial that means to douse those in fire and see who comes out the other end tempered."
She lowers her head.
"You would... follow them to the ends of the world, no matter how much it sullies your names, your identities. For this goal... wouldn't you?"
She wipes more tears away.
"Why, Miss Ragnell? Why does it have to be this way? It is unfair..."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"...Can't say I'm surprised to hear you say that," Ragnell replies, turning her gaze to the blue skies. "You always were soft. You an' KK both are kind people... but they'll go a lot further than you will. Mmm... Or maybe it's a little unfair t' say that? You go plenty far. It's just that the nuances o' what you each believe in make all the difference in the road you take."
She looks back at Riesenlied. "To be frank, you're the type to pamper an' baby others. K.K. just won't do that. More to th' point, they believe that that'll inevitably cause others's downfall. That, to take an example, you spoilin' Mikaia an' Janey will make 'em grow up to be greedy, selfish brats--or, even worse, make 'em so dependent on you they don't know how to take care of themselves. For my part, I'm not sayin' there's no room for bein' a little kind or goin' a bit easy from time t' time, especially on the young an' inexperienced... but people need to be challenged, or else they won't grow."
'You would... follow them... for this goal... wouldn't you?'
"..."
Sometimes, some questions just don't need to be answered. But Riese asks *Ragnell* why, and she breathes out a faint sigh as she stares up at the heavens. "...Life's unfair. The world's unfair. Humanity's unfair. An' nature's unfair. It's not a bad thing to demand fairness from an unfair universe, I think, 'cuz that's how you get justice, an' justice is a thing we have to make for ourselves." She fixes a hard stare on the Tainted. "But it's worse than pointless to cry over it. That's just self-indulgence, Riese."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied bites her lip as she looks up to the blue skies too. Being soft...
"The nuances that we believe in..." Riesenlied whispers. She glances towards Ragnell as she looks to her and advises her that she's the type to pamper and baby others... well...
"... I don't-- I don't want that of them. Even before I met them, they were already independent, living off a harsh world that didn't care for them... I just wanted to show them that love and care does exist," Riesenlied mutters, glancing away. It kind of sounds like she's trying to excuse herself, and she knows it.
But people need to be challenged... or else they won't grow.
"... the price is too high. The kinds of sacrifices that have to be made... all for the sake of shocking people into alertness..." Riesenlied utters. "So many innocent people have died. In Lahan, in the Hollow... in Krosse...!"
But it's worse than pointless to cry over it.
She's silent for a while longer... and wipes her eyes dry. "I... I disagree. I cry for you and K.K. both, because I lament how things must have gone to send you on this path. I cry for Filgaia because I want to empathise with its troubles. I cry because feeling...
She looks up to Ragnell, standing against that steely, hard gae of hers.
"Feeling it is how I know I'm still fighting for what I believe in."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"That's true. I saw what happened to them, too," Ragnell concedes, thinking back to the mindscape explosion over Wayside. The old woman who'd snipped off Janey's ears and tail, who would've done the same to Mikaia's wings if she'd gotten the chance. "But there's a difference between showin' someone love an' care, an' spoilin' them." She chuckles dryly and half-shrugs. "But hey, as long as they shower you with their love, who cares if you keep 'em soft, right?" She shuts one eye, the other narrowed, and adds, "You don't *need* a pair o' scissors to keep a bird's wings clipped, after all."
Riesenlied protests that the price is too high, that too many innocent lives have ended, that it's surely not worth it to shock people into awareness. "...Then we're just gonna have to disagree. I won't make any excuses for what we do, though. I might disagree with how you do things, but I think kindness like yours is needed. If you think we're wrong, you're free to help Sorey an' whoever try to stop us. Mind, I'd appreciate it if you kept what you know about me an' them discreet, but I couldn't actually stop you if you decided to blab."
She 'heh's quietly as Riese dries her tears and disagrees, their eyes meeting one anothers. "That's on you, then. I won't tell you to stop actin' in accordance with what you believe. Jus' know I never asked you to cry for me, and K.K. probably wouldn't be keen to know you cry for them."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Filgaia needs children like them. I think you're discounting how tough and resourceful they can be..." Riesenlied places her hand to her chest. "The world is already suffering enough without the need for trials..."
She looks towards Ragnell as she finally rises to her feet, the squirrel hopping off her palm. "No, I do not intend to openly speak of it... your relation to K.K. is yours, after all. I do not even know the true depth of your story -- and much like you said earlier... it's best if I do not work on misconceptions."
She tilts her head. "... I know you didn't ask me to. Just... call me stubborn, I suppose." She can't help but have a smile in turn, looking a bit more cheered.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"Maybe so, but at least the sufferin' K.K. visits on the world has a purpose. That's more'n you can say for most suffering that takes place," Ragnell points out. Riese rises, and so does Ragnell, leaning forward onto the balls of her feet and standing in a fluid upward motion.
A hand on her hip, harmonica tucked away in an item bag pocket in her trousers, she nods. "That so? I 'ppreciate that." A chuckle, at the talk of misconceptions. "Well, I don't think things would change much even if you *did* know the whole story, but I'm not complainin'. I love a good yarn, but not so much when it's auto-biographical."
Stubborn. She chuckles at that. "Stubborn ain't the half of it," she points out, winking at her. "Well, you do as you please an' so will I, then." She pauses. "But just in case, was there somethin' else you were fixin' to ask before I head along my way?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
At least the suffering K.K. visits upon this world has a purpose.
Riesenlied thinks of that for a moment longer. Would Gebler say that what they do has purpose? Absolutely. Lord Siegfried brought his conquest upon the world with all the purpose in his mind...
"... no, it was good to be able to catch up with you," Riesenlied answers Ragnell's question. "Maybe we can play again together sometime." She tilts her head. "Be careful, Miss Ragnell."
Maybe Ragnell didn't need that advice, but in a way, she felt the need to say it. Maybe it isn't being cautious of one's surrounding, but of one's purpose...