2021-06-21: A Little Gesture (Procession)
- Log: A Little Gesture (Procession)
- Cast: Pearl, Seraph Boudicca
- Where: Mount Gagazet
- Date: 2021-06-21
- Summary: Boudicca, whilst gathering flowers, comes across Pearl, attempting a retreat from Gagazet. Cautiously, she offers her aid; cautiously, Pearl accepts.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
In the end, the sending turned out to be a success, as far as the young summoner could tell. But once it was done, she made herself scarce. She expected no thanks from the Ronso- Maester Kelk would be able to work out who she was, surely. And while Hilde had guaranteed her freedom to leave, Pearl was not going to wait for them to change her mind. She walked down the mountain, head held high. She had done something good. For once.
But it was not too far down until she found herself leaning on her staff for support, and maneuvered herself over to a wall, collapsing on the ground. It had taken so much out of her to keep Leviathan through those fights. And the sending...
She had sent many people to their graves, but to send them safely to the afterlife? With a technique she was told was heretical? Though, that would only hold credence if she ever believed. In either of them.
She propped her staff on the shoulder. It would be death to fall sleep here. Her cloak would only do so much against the cold. But she could rest for a while, right? That would be fine.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
...But humans like to give flowers to their dead.
And so Boudicca is out here on the slopes, rendering assistance. (On behalf of whom? This is a secret.) It is difficult for most people to adeptly navigate around these precipices; there are prescribed paths to walk, and Goddess forbid anyone leave them. (Perhaps an airship could get one off the beaten path, but even then, one would not want to stray too far.) A Wind Seraph neatly cuts through these limitations, and so it is in the background art that she is found, gathering wildflowers in a silk cloth.
It's easier to miss people all the way back there, of course, when one cannot walk up and interact with them. When Pearl goes to a wall, Boudicca, in the background, goes: "Oh!"
She ties the cloth to her belt, to protect the flowers gathered. A puff of breeze, and she leaps back onto the path, but she only approaches a certain distance before she stops; Pearl, she thinks, is someone easily scared-away. "Ah... excuse me!" She calls, a brief pause as she edits her usual approach. "I mean no harm to you. I wish only to ask... are you well?" After Sending so many people... Boudicca can't help but be concerned.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
Boudicca's movements are swift and quiet, but nonetheless Pearl picks up on them. Her survival relies on picking up on them. As Boudicca approaches, she grabs her staff, ready to run rather than fight. She starts to stand, but when Boudicca stops a distance away, and starts talking, she slides down and slumps again. That might be an answer in and of itself.
"Am I deserving of that question, Lady Seraph?" The tone implies that she doesn't think so. "Considering what happened last time we met?" So she evidently remembers.
The young woman closes her eyes, the network of scars on her face clearly visible. "But to answer your question, I am not." She leans her head back. "...nor, I suspect, have I ever been." She whispers to herself, perhaps not realising she is saying it rather than thinking it.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
"You are not the first person I have engaged with little aggravation on the other side of the battlefield," Boudicca answers her memories, "nor shall you be the last." It seems that fighting Pearl is little barrier to her now worrying about her, in Boudicca's eyes. "I believe I failed to introduce myself, under those circumstances -- I am Boudicca," she says, clasping her hands together and bowing.
She settles back on her heels, and the breeze sighs around her, rustling at the greenery which can still endure the cold. (It's a battle, of course; gathering flowers on Gagazet is a much different proposal to finding them in the Calm Lands.) "The snow cannot be comfortable," she presumes, with no sudden movements. "Would you like a blanket..?"
Boudicca does not, notably, immediately volunteer to heal her, though she is a Seraph and no doubt technically can.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
This seems to confuse Pearl more than anything. She could understand hatred, she could understand fear, she can't quite grasp kindness. It's as though it's almost entirely a foreign concept to her.She watches Boudicca carefully, even when she bows and introduces herself. "...My name is Pearl." No 'Summoner' this time. Maybe the declaration doesn't matter now everyone's seen her do it.
And there Pearl looks at Boudicca like she's just asked something outrageous. Why would she offer that? To a stranger, and enemy? She doesn't actually answer the question asked, though. The suspicion is too much.
"...I do not understand what you are doing." She says, flatly. "What does this gain you?" She doesn't ask to be healed. It's more fatigue than anything else- Leviathan took most of the beating for her.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
"Well met," Boudicca says, to her name. It's true! She doesn't have to say she's a Summoner! Leviathan was right there!
There are things Boudicca doesn't have to say, either; regardless, she says them. Pearl's flat questioning brings a curled hand to her chest, as Boudicca weighs up her words. The wrong ones, she knows, cause her much distress.
Boudicca isn't the right person for this, but Boudicca is the one standing here, now.
"I gain the assurance that someone who rendered us aid in a vulnerable moment is not left wanting in the wake of it," Boudicca says, finally, level-voiced. "Is this sufficient?"
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
Pearl seems to pause at Boudicca's words, then nods. While it doesn't make entire sense to her... It at least represents something gained. "...Very well. If that will give you what you desire."
She pauses again, wondering if she can allow herself to take comfort, to take aid from someone. Does she deserve it, given what she's done? Or should she take it anyway, given what she's been through? What the hell do you do in this situation? All the rules that gujided her life until now are out the window.
In the end, it's the cold snow that makes the decision for her. "...I will accept that blanket. If it is still on offer."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
It's a terribly transactional method of speaking, and not Boudicca's native manner; but Pearl is complicated, and Boudicca doesn't wish to anger her again.
(She isn't afraid for herself; she's afraid for Pearl.)
Still, the transaction seems to take root, and Boudicca smiles, breathing out in a puff of relief. "Very well," she agrees, and moves to take the pack from her shoulder, pulling from it... a nice, warm woolen blanket, straight from the town of Zulan, where she first realised she really needed to carry one.
It's in a tartan pattern, all green and black; moving carefully, slowly, Boudicca steps forward. She doesn't close too close into Pearl's space; rather, once she gets close enough for it to be an easy catch, she gently throws the folded blanket to her.
(It's bound to be an easy catch, because it's being buoyed by the wind. Wind spirits cheat.)
"I did not realise the cold afflicted humans so," Boudicca says, stepping back to lean on a different section of that wall. "But one day I climbed a snowy mountain -- and you must understand, I did not have skin as such, at the time -- so it was entirely puzzling to me, to see how cold the mortals became. It was only then I realised I ought carry a blanket in my back."
She reaches up, grasping one of her entirely overlong braids. "Back then... I had many adventures with the Guard, myself. Climbing that mountain, climbing into ruins... I saw Leo help a great many people. I was not always so adverserial. They considered me... Honoured, back then."
Why would she tell Pearl something like this..?
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
The silver haired woman catches the blanket easily. "Thank you." She unfolds it and places it underself, and then wraps the rest of it over her legs, then her torso, before pulling it tight. She closes her eyes again. "...It's soft." She says, as though surprised. She's still not used to such things. Pearl remains otherwise not forthcoming.
Instead, she listens as Boudicca talks, trying to make sense of her story. What was the purpose? That Seraphs were so disconnected the world as to not understand basic human needs? Or was it who she learned from.
"...The White Knight is a good man." There's a pause. "Or... I hope he's a good man. But power in Lunar seems to go to monsters. ...Spira, too." She shakes her head. "I do not.... understand your story yet."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
"Good!" Boudicca seems entirely pleased as to the softness quotient of her blanket. The comfort of humans... is very important!
She doesn't stop to dwell on it, though. Or does she? Maybe it's a story all about a blanket, with some extra bits in the middle.
But then, why do people tell stories to each other..?
"His is a conflicted heart, I think," Boudicca says, of the White Knight, "but I believe it is good at its core." This seems like a conclusion Boudicca reaches often, certain cats notwithstanding, given the way she healed Pearl when they fought.
There's a moment of pause, here, as she gathers her thoughts. "It seems... you are finding your own path, just the same," Boudicca starts, finally, looking back to her again. "You seem troubled as to why I would aid you, but I see some common ground between us, Pearl. Were it not for the kindness of others, things may have gone much differently for me, I think."
Boudicca sighs, looking up to the thin-breath sky; the horns on her helm stop her from looking too far up, leant back against the wall as she is. "Of course, I do not know your story... but, I can tell you mine. That is all the meaning of this."
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
Again, Pearl seems slightly confused that it matters to Boudicca. But, well, even things mattering that aren't 'revenge' are kind of new. It's been a week. So she simply huddles in it a little more. She's silent as Boudicca describes Leo. The Seraph seems to have a similar view to herself...
"The kindness of others is not something I have ever had the liberty to rely on." She says it a little coldly, but it's not clear why. "And if you knew my story, you might not be so quick to offer it."
She stares up at the tall Seraph. What possible common ground could they have? A Seraph, and one of Lunar's most prolific murderers. A woman of utter cruelty. "...Very well. I will listen." She could use anything to make sense of... what to do now.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
"You know me as little as I you," Boudicca points out, not unkindly. "If I can offer kindness to the enemy of all Filgaia, surely can I offer kindness to you."
Filgaia? What a strange world to speak of for a Seraph.
Still, she settles back, after that, and does not quite look at Pearl as she speaks; perhaps it's that little veil of privacy she can offer her. Perhaps, in this instance, it's not about Pearl's comfort. Boudicca may be an apt hand at portraying enigmaticism, but...
"When the Goddess spoke of the Lord of Calamity come again... I could not let it come to pass another time. I left the mountain which had been my home, and with piety I sought Her ends. Ah..." Regret softens her voice, "unfortunately, I made quite a few people unhappy, saying I sought to end the woman they called the Lord of Calamity... I took the proclamation as truth, and did not hear humanity as they said She was mistaken. I was sure of Althena's wisdom... though, I had little else to guide me."
Boudicca shakes her head, looking up at the clouds.
"... but, I learned a great many things, in the world of Men. The Hellions whom I thought were beyond acknowledgement were so much more complex than I knew... I came to know them, and helped, in time. I found myself in another world, where my statue brought fear for reasons entirely new. I met a wicked woman who drained the blood of Men, and found she was both true and kind. From her, I learned many things... which made me question my unwavering belief."
The breeze rustles past the wall, as Boudicca sighs, and the world sighs with her. "... in the end, I sacrificed everything to save a mortal soul when Ragnell and K.K. sought to end Filgaia, and in turn Moor Gault saved me from becoming what I had so feared of myself. I joined my path with Filgaia... entered concordance with its Guardians, in order to purify Malevolence. But this is not adjudicated by Althena... not there, in the left-behind. 'Twas not Her Blessing I used, to save them."
She takes a step from the wall, arms swinging, before they loop loosely behind her back. "Further and further I walked from Her side, though She had never looked to me. Still I thought perhaps these scales I might balance, until Althena's Guard to Spira came." Boudicca closes her eyes, before finally she looks back to Pearl; grey-green her gaze, as if sorrow has washed all the colour from her eyes. "This I could not abide... thus, I denied Her. These acts, in Her name... there is a certain responsibility, at the minimum, She has abjured. She tasked us Seraphim to safeguard humanity... this, I do."
Boudicca bows her head: "... but more and more, I feel I do this in spite of Althena, rather than because of Her."
This might not be her last chance, to reach out to Pearl with her story; but, it may very well be her first.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
Pearl is very good at staying quiet, at listening. Usually, though, it's not in sight of the person she's listening to. There's a lot to take in. Taking the words of the Goddess as they seemed, seeking the lLrd of Calamity. Then changing your path, seeking power from elsewhere. Is that what she meant, when she meant similarities? And then Boudicca gets to the end of her story..
... but more and more, I feel I do this in spite of Althena, rather than because of Her.
Pearl smiles, small, soft and sad. "Would you like to know something that might surprise you, Lady Seraph?" Something that could change the context entirely. It takes a moment for her to find it in her to speak it but... She's already a heretic many times over.
"I have never believed in Her. Not for a single moment of my entire life."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
Boudicca nods, as Pearl smiles -- and she does look surprised, when she speaks up. Boudicca is at once world-weary and new; there are things she expects, and things she would not.
"Oh..." She clasps a hand to her chest, all clad in armour plating; there is something sad to that, yes. "I --" A grimace to the corner of her lips, as she bites down on her instinctive response. "I am glad, then," she says, instead, "that you have found another to turn to, as well."
Leviathan, surely.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
Of course the Seraph is surprised. They're manifestations of Althena's will, supposedly. They idea one could serve without faith may be foreign to them. Pearl shakes her head. "I do not think you understand. Leviathan is a part of me, a part of my soul. Not a god I follow." Not that she fully understood how the fayth works, but... "Not that I have faith in Yevon, either."
She leans back against the wall, her cold grey eyes looking up into Boudicca's grey-green. "I cannot believe in a goddess that would allow the things I've seen, the things that have happened to myself and others. A goddess who would make a hero out of George Heldalf." She closes her hand into a fist. "A goddess who would make a demon like Lunn the Blue Master."
She's clearly exhausted, she's speaking without restraint. But perhaps Boudicca is the first friendly face she's had to talk to in the last week, and she has needed to speak for so long. "At best, a so-called goddess is negligent. At worst, she indulges these people and is a monster herself."
After all, who else would let a monster like her roam free.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
"I do not follow the Guardians, either," Boudicca does not point out the misconception directly, but rather gestures to it, the way a candle gestures to shadows as they flicker on the wall.
In the valleys of green and grey come she and she again, and one is warm and one is cold, but still Boudicca meets her eyes. "I see your anger," she says, rather than speak ill of the dead. "... I cannot say it is misplaced."
It's now she looks away, twirling one of those thick braids around her hand. "Althena... made a choice, long ago, which I cannot agree with, bound to Filgaia as I am. Althena... must have allowed..." Her eyes close, she breathes out, "... ah, a great many things."
Didn't she tell Kaguya? Some secrets are best left to slumber.
"She was not who I knew as 'mother', and yet She is not unlike such a thing, for beings as we are. Birthed from the Ley, we stand for Her. And yet our people are so varied, that the Light may hold both the honourable Clarine... and Harmaus, who would bring ruin to humanity." Boudicca shakes her head, lowering her hands. "Does this speak to your point? I wonder. A good Goddess ought beget good children... is this not so?"
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
Pearl nods. That makes sense. But it bothers her, a little, that Boudicca does not ask how she can say this of Lunn. But maybe she doesn't want to dig up bad experiences. Maybe she doesn't want to know. No matter. Pearl takes a deep breath, that crystalizes in the cold mountain air.
She looks forward, at Boudicca's claim. "...I don't know that is so." Pearl says, a little contemplatively. "To dictate who her 'children' are is too much. But... a goddess who does not act when evil is in her midst, being perpetrated so broadly, but charges into war abroard..." She shakes her head, going in circles.
"When your own heroes are torturing children, you should do something, should you not?"
It's then Pearl realises she has maybe talked too much, and shuts up rapidly. Had she rested enough yet to move on? Even if she hadn't, she could make it to the Calm Lands, and find respite at the Travel Center before she makes her way to... wherever next is.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
Lunn is dead. Pearl was recently of the Guard which stood behind him. She thinks it a sensitive subject. Perhaps not for the reasons it is.
Boudicca, it must be said, is not terribly good at emotions nor the care thereof, but she is doing her best.
"You should," she agrees, a certain distance of grief to the words.
Pearl goes quiet, and for a while, Boudicca doesn't interrupt that silence. She leans on the wall, glances over to make sure Pearl hasn't gone blue... but, perhaps she simply doesn't know what to say.
She can't just leave her in the snow like this, though. She's not entirely sure Pearl would get up again.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
That makes two of them.
At least Boudicca agrees, even if she hasn't put two and two together yet. Give her time. Maybe Pearl will be gone by then.
She tries to stand, but her body won't let her. "Damn..."
She sighs. She's going to need to rest more. Damn it. She takes a few more moments. "...Thank you. I am still not sure why you deem me worthy to talk to, but it is appreciated." She looks up. "But I will need loan of your blanket a few minutes more."
It's maybe a minute later that it becomes clear Pearl has fallen asleep, in a place truly unsafe to sleep. A problem.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
"Ah-!" Boudicca gasps, as Pearl's strength fails her, reaching out a hand despite herself. She settles back as Pearl reseats herself, though, frowning in concern. "Please," she assures her, "take all the time you need."
That time may end up being a shade longer than Boudicca could have expected. Glancing back again: "Oh..." But quietly, quietly, because Pearl, it seems, has fallen asleep.
Boudicca here retreats to the background again, but she hasn't abandoned Pearl. Shortly those broad arms have gathered up a good amount of wood, and she returns to the path, to build a modest campfire close to Pearl -- but not so close she'd get burned, of course. It is important to maintain proper campfire respect.
The wood is snow-sodden, of course, but Boudicca takes the coals from the brazier which used to be herself, peppers them amongst the wood. Her fingers click together, flint to steel, and Moor Gault's flame sparks from the kindling which is her to leap to the fuel which is not.
In the defence of one more human, she can light that flame, and invoke the hearth to keep her warm and safe until she's able to move again.
... and perhaps there are some flowers nearby she can fetch, while she's giving her the time she needs.