thenearshore | 007

[[Prior thread.]]

[There's a clear, almost snarling look of distaste that crosses Shun's face at that ancient greed, because he's met far less ancient people who've made him disgusted with those kinds of attitudes. But it fades as quickly as Ankh's does, because he's seen as much as anyone how people can change when faced with the right things. How soldiers who would laugh while cutting down innocent people can be shown the true horror of what they've done and try to atone for it, however late the sentiment may feel.

The expression left in its place is still a little wary, but understanding. Good people can come from unexpected places, in any world.]

I would have said better dead than trapped like that, but I suppose I'm not the one who lived it. [There's a tightness to his tone even making that concession, but he's not going to go into detail about why.] Sometimes I wonder how people can stay that way. Good, merciful, whatever you want to call it. The world does its best to crush those kinds of people, but that kind of resilience...it takes more than willpower.

[If only he knew what it did take. Maybe then he wouldn't have had to relearn mercy and trust.]

[Ankh arched an eyebrow at the response, but, well, he wasn't one who felt that he needed to excuse what he was and what he was made for. Sure, he wasn't as consumed with becoming whole any more, but there was a general lack of concern over humanity as a whole in his demeanor.]

I would argue that there is no death if there is no real life to us, but I've been told that so long as I feel, I am living. [He still felt that he wasn't living like humans. Sure, he can eat and drink but all it does is get changed by the energy to created him into fueling his abilities, though not as well as the Cell Medals did.] The world tried to break him, but there was still enough glue in place to attempt to help someone one more time...

[An ancient embodiment of greed, a creature that saw people as just tools. And that glue grew stronger the more he was able to see a way to help, and that glue also gave him a place to start as well.] We might have helped each other out in the end.

[It's hard to argue that point, and though Shun hasn't really given it much thought himself, he does ultimately give a slow nod.]

It's nothing I'm familiar with, but that sounds right to me. Even if it's not life as others here might know it, there's so many worlds represented here that I doubt there's nobody at all who hasn't come from something similar, or heard of it.

[This place has been doing a lot to broaden his mind over the last week or so, and it's hard not to point out that even now, they're ostensibly in some kind of equal life or death regardless of the worlds they came from.

As if Shun's very familiar with that kind of story, his accepting incline of the head comes much more easily at the idea of someone crushed managing to help like that, and it ending up going both ways.]

In a situation like that, sometimes that's all you can do.

As I said, we were made to be nothing more then tools. I doubt the king ever thought that we would grow with our own personalities or natures. I wouldn't be surprised if there were others out there with a similar beginning.

[It might be why Ankh saw no reason to demand or command the shinki under his care. Sure, they were tools in one sense, but they were also once human and he would not change their basic selves to suit whatever need he may had. On the contrary, Ankh was more willing to just let them ask him for things and work a understanding that way.]

Everything evolves, even if it's to lessen a hurt from before.

If anything, the fact you proved him wrong and chose to be something else is another reason to say you're living. But you're right, I'd be more surprised if there wasn't anyone else like that here.

[Though it might be something completely unfamiliar to Shun himself, he's adapting to this place as quickly as he can, and it's by no means beyond probability that there'd be more people with the same kind of source.

They seem to both be in agreement on the point of change in people, as well, so Shun merely gives a short nod. There's little else to be said for that flexibility that they haven't already reached.]

[[Prior thread.]]

[The show doesn't seem to impress Shun much, but it does draw his gaze, eyes clearly darting between the ribbons and following their movements. It's habit, an expectation of attack despite the situation, but the intricacy of the patterns is a pleasant distraction, in a way.]

You have to wonder how long it's even been since this place was last cleaned. They can't have lost that many gods since we've gotten here.

[Because if there was one thing there had been no shortage of, it was empty or run-down temples.]

You think they're just trying to keep us busy? [Axel smirks.] It sure doesn't look like they do a spring cleaning every year around here.

[Shun looks like he's expecting Axel to try to singe his eyebrows off any moment. Axel wiggles his fingers at the fire, braiding a few of the flames together and then letting them fall back to their normal shape.]

Probably. If the rest of their behaviour is any sign, they're not interested in actually helping us or letting us in on any decent information.

[That's quite some bitterness happening in his voice, though he's still looking at the flames rather than at Axel. While he considers the reasons he has for distrusting the heavens his own business, he doesn't shy away from voicing that distrust.]

I mean, sure. What are we to them? A bunch of newbie dead weight. Good for cleaning up their shit, when we're good for anything at all.

[Axel, by contrast, sounds perfectly casual about it. It's how he feels. They can't expect anything from the Heavens -- they're getting a pretty good deal by not actively getting assigned suicide missions, in fact, as far as he can tell. Or just killed to keep them from wasting the energy of the higher-ups.

He twirls one finger in the air, sending a tongue of flame into a little spiral.]

If we want anything to happen, we've got to do it for ourselves.

And from the state their shinki seem to be in, I doubt the ones brought here would still have their personalities intact if they had their way.

[He's basing off the soulless shinki and the messengers Amaterasu sends, the distant, inhuman, creepy beings that serve as the face of the higher-up gods most of the time. They're neither reassuring or appealing, and though Shun has some level of sympathy for his soulless shinki, he still doesn't trust or like it.]

Assuming they don't try to stamp out active rebellion. Incompetent leaders do it often enough.

You think? There's a couple of old shinki who don't mind talking to the rabble. That Yukine kid, for one. Plus Kazuma.

Sure, they've got all these fancy ideas about the way things ought to be, but I wouldn't say they're brainwwashed.

[He shrugs again, dropping the flames in favor of leaning back with both hands spread flat on the stair behind him.]

I'd expect they'd do something if we got active about it. Subtle, that's the trick. Stay under the radar.

[Shun's only real experience with the higher-ups' shinki are Amaterasu's, so the idea that there are some that actually willingly talk to them gets a more incredulous look from him than anything.]

I don't know either of them. Who's their god, anyway? It's Amaterasu's and the soulless ones I keep ending up running into out of those ones.

[And though his soulless shinki is useful enough, the idea of a living weapon that doesn't question him at all, ever is not something he at all appreciates.]

The question is how long you can keep a rebellion under the radar from gods when you're in the heavens.

I think Kazuma's Bishamon's lead or something like that. Yukine, I've got no clue. We haven't exactly talked that much yet.

[He tilts his head towards Shun, tossing him a dry look.]

You know how not to keep one quiet? Chat about it on the steps of the main hall. Hey, if you've got ideas, hit me up sometime, though.

[He thinks he might have heard that first god's name before, but it doesn't really help, because he's never met Bishamon anyway. In any case, he dismisses the thought for the moment. If he runs into either of them now, at least he'll be aware of what they are.

Shun returns the dry look just as hard, glancing over to the main hall.]

If they're that bothered about it even being mentioned, they'll just make themselves look worse and give reasons to people who don't already have a reason to distrust them.

Yeah, and that'll do us a whole lot of good, won't it.

[Mostly, he'd just rather not get killed. He shrugs, getting to his feet and dusting off his hands.] Nice reasoning, but I wouldn't say whoever's running things around here is all that sharp.

A larger rebellion means they can't stamp it out so easily.

[Apparently, Shun's opinions on getting killed in the process of rebellion are a little looser. He's already almost been killed multiple times in the process of the one in his home world.]

I'd agree there. They don't seem to have any idea how to run this place, let alone whatever their domains are.

Yeah, well, I'd still have a problem with the part where I get squashed like a bug.

[He shrugs casually, turning his attention away from Shun to the fire again as he strolls down a few steps.]

Most people aren't going to rebel if they think putting one toe out of line gets them squashed, too. It works well enough.

If you go against people with power, you expect to brush with death. That's just how it is. You have to rise up again, or if you do fall, trust in your comrades to rise in your stead.

[He says it like it's complete fact that anyone should know, and to him, it is - it's been a basic fact of his life for the last two years. His eyes are still on the fire, but from the sudden hardness to his expression, it's clear he's taking this extremely seriously.]

I doubt a rebellion of that sort would fix this place, anyway. The heavens just need to know they can't keep acting like they're unaccountable for their actions.

Or maybe you take some basic precautions so you can get things done. What's the point in fighting if it's not to get yourself and your friends out the other side in one piece?

[You say it like it's a fact, Shun, but that's just, like, your opinion, man. Of course going up against powerful enemies can get people killed; in Axel's opinion, that's why it's important to be careful about it. Dead men don't get victory parties. Dead men get forgotten.]

I don't want to rock the boat too much, but I'm not just going to sit around and wait to get disappeared, either.

[He snorts, and waves a hand casually in dismissal of the topic.]

Not like I know who's doing it, so I might as well not bother talking big.

You can't always get everyone out the other side that easily. You can take them back from the enemy, but expecting to win a fight without losing anyone in the first place is naive.

[It might be his opinion, but he's been living it for the last two years, and the kind of powerful enemy he was up against didn't give most of the civilian (or Resistance, for that matter) population of his city much of a choice but to die.

Nonetheless, it's pretty obvious that if they keep going this way, it's just going to start an unnecessary fight. Despite all his talk, Shun's not exactly planning to rock the boat either - he just wants them all organised and ready instead of having the heavens seemingly not giving a damn and everyone else just seeming to go along with it.]

True. Assuming it's not the heavens, but there wouldn't be a hell of a lot of point bringing us just to send us away again.

We don't even know if it's the heavens bringing us in. They're making us welcome, but I don't remember getting any kind of "hey, we brought you here to help out" speech.

Maybe shinki just don't get that info! What about you -- did you hear any different?

[It's stupid to talk about reasons for fighting, when it sounds like what Shun's saying is more like "if the fight's important enough you've got to be prepared," and Axel just doesn't think any fight's more important than keeping people safe.

Too bad nobody's safe if they don't fight, he thinks, and scowls absently.]

[Another reason he doesn't really like the heavens - he might complain about the lack of information gods get, but shinki get none at all as far as he's seen. With a slight, frustrated hiss, Shun gives a a noncommittal tip of the head.]

Gods do get more information, but not a hell of a lot. We're supposed to be here to help people and answer prayers and whatever else, but the heavens never specifically mentioned it was to help them.

[But as far as he's concerned, that's just them avoiding putting any actual responsibility on the table for what's happening.]

Sounds to me like it's helping them out, all right. It keeps anybody's faith from wavering while they're figuring out the problem.

And faith means power for gods, right?

[It stands to reason. If nobody cares about a god, that god's not going to make much of a splash in the hierarchy. If people stop caring because their prayers aren't getting answered... that'd screw over the Heavens. Right?]

If humans are having faith in us, and we're standing in for what those higher gods are supposed to be doing, that would only weaken them and strengthen us.

[Honestly, that's another reason it feels kind of strange to be the ones standing in for this sort of thing. Humans pray to certain gods, and if the higher-ups don't generally respond to that sort of thing, surely that affects their power.]

So you're not wrong, but I think it's an individual thing, not a group one.

007 | OVERFLOW

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