markofthebrave | [ Action, Voice ] .025

Entry tags:

*brook,
*caesar,
*derek,
*ginko,
*nami,
*raine,
*san,
*selphie,
*sokka,
*usopp,
...this place is so...,
best coping mechanism ever,
homesickness sucks,
last waterbender of her tribe,
messing with a little girl's dream,
might need something stronger than soda,
mother hen,
this isn't her war,
war sucks

[ Action, Voice ] .025

[Today - hadn't been so bad. Twenty of them, maybe? It sure seemed like there were a lot less out here than they'd been led to expect, and that was only a good thing because she was tired. The weight of doing this every day was getting to her. Blood had dried in clumps in her hair, and she'd been too tired to bend it out. Now as she stood in the shower, the water collecting at her feet was pink.

It isn't supposed to be pink.

Her stomach heaves and Katara shuts her eyes and stands under the water until even the Malnosso's hotel runs out of hot water, and long after it turns cold.

The thought of going to sleep leaves her restless, and after staring at herself in the mirror too long, she goes to knock on some doors. She doesn't plan on staying long, but just - seeing - that Toph and Sokka are still all right will do her good. She hesitates, and then heads towards Caesar's door as well. When she returns, she's still awake, and so instead of a quick line that she won't respond to anyway, she makes a voice post tonight.]

Hey everyone! How are things going there?

[Hesitation.]
Nami, is... the house still standing?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Pffff.] All right. If you're sure.

[And she takes a big bite of a sea prune. Mmmm. There's no taste like home.]

Did you grow up around those duck people you told me about?

[Oh gosh, how does she even- He shakes his head slightly. Focus on the Duck Clan and not that strange food.]

No, I didn't. The Duck Clan is native to the Grasslands - that's pretty far from where I grew up. I had only read about them until the war.

So the war... didn't have anything to do with you, until you got hired to help plan it? Is that how it works?

[Excuse her question, Caesar, your world confuses her so much. She reaches over and pours herself a glass of soda.]

Right. Well... That's normally how it works. I wasn't really hired to help, I volunteered. But the best kind of strategist shouldn't have any ties to the war before they're asked to fight. That way, you can ensure that the decisions they make will be fair.

[...your world makes no sense. Let's latch on to the part she can understand.]

So you volunteered?

[And have we mentioned 'Mmmmm, stewed sea prunes?']

[He nods.] I hadn't intended to. It just so happened that I was in the right place at the right time. [But that was no coincidence.] Once I saw things for myself, I couldn't very well leave those people like that. They needed my help, and bad.

[She nods. That, she can understand. It's hard to turn away from people in need, and if you're Katara, it's pretty much impossible.]

The Grasslanders? Who were they fighting against?

[Oh dear. This is where it gets complicated. He pauses, contemplating how to explain this.]

Not just the Grasslanders. The Zexens, too. [Hmm. He would have to back up a little bit.] The Grasslanders and Zexens had been on the verge of war for a long time, and all they needed was a little push to start conflict. That's where the Harmonians come in - they're out to conquer just about everyone. But there was no way the Grasslanders and the Zexens could face Harmonia when they had enough problems going on between them internally. That's where I came in - I had to convince the Grasslanders and Zexens to work together to fight off the Harmonians.

[This? This is the easy stuff. She pauses for a minute to consider what he's saying and then spears a piece of the yakisoba.]

That makes sense. Did it work?

[And she takes a bite of the yakisoba.] Hey, this is really good!

[It's the complicated stuff that he's leaving out, like the real reason he was in the Grasslands, for example. The personal stuff. He nods.]

Not too bad, right? I wish I could make it like this... [He shrugs. It's not like he was really invested in his cooking skills anyway.] It did work, however. It took quite a bit of convincing, but I got through to them eventually. We were still far from a real army, but it was kind of nice to see all of those different people working together, I guess.

[She's a bit tentative to ask this question, but since they're talking about it anyway...]

Is that where Hugo came in?

Something like that. The Flame Champion was the hero that the Grasslanders were hoping for. The Zexens more or less put their faith in him because he had a True Rune.

Harmonia wasn't too keen on fighting the Grasslanders knowing that the Flame Champion had returned. During the First Fire Bringer War, the original Flame Champion used the True Fire Rune to quickly put an end to the fighting, but there were many casualties as a result. Harmonia certainly didn't want anything like that happening again. They didn't know anything about the new Flame Champion, so there was no way for them to tell whether we'd make a move like that. They were walking on eggshells.

[There's a bit there that she doesn't understand, but she's getting caught up in the story now and has even stopped eating to give him all her attention.]

So then what happened?

Edited 2010-08-07 04:01 (UTC)

[Caesar's not really eating, either. He takes a drink of soda before he continues.]

After the Grasslanders and Zexens put their differences aside, we made Budehuc Castle our headquarters. Things really livened up after we got there. It wasn't just a castle, but a castle town, and after a bit of recruitment work, we had everything you could think of. We even had a theater which we used to put on plays to entertain the troops and earn money. [Not that he'd been enthusiastic about the plays, but Albert's reaction to finding out what they did during downtime was amazing.] It was still a little... uh, out of the ordinary, but it didn't take long to get used to.

Harmonia wasn't ready to give up just because we had the Flame Champion, however - they were out to take over all of the Grasslands. We fought a few battles against them... We even ran into the Harmonian Bishop Sasarai, who was leading the Harmonian army. [He pauses.] I'm not too sure what happens after that, though. That's when I found myself here. But I heard that things end well, so I'm not worried about it.

Oh. [That's kind of a disappointing end to the story - not really having an ending.] Well, that's good. I was taken here before I knew how things ended for sure too.

[She starts in on her stewed sea prunes again.] So what does 'Flame Champion' mean? Is it like a prophecy?

It's good to have others around who can clear things up for you. [He had never asked for the details, though. Oops. He shakes his head.]

It's really just a title, given to the one who bears the True Fire Rune. Like I said, the original Flame Champion was a hero. He sought to liberate the Grasslands from Holy Harmonia despite the fact that their army was incredible and could easily overwhelm the region. Though a victor was never technically declared in the battle, Harmonia agreed to sign a peace treaty with the Flame Champion, and they didn't bother the Grasslands for the next fifty years. He disappeared after that, but was still a symbol of worship throughout the Grasslands. That's why, when Harmonia started up trouble with them again, the person the Grasslanders looked to was the Flame Champion. The original Flame Champion died years ago, however. That's why Hugo, as the son of the Karaya Clan's chief, was chosen to become the Flame Champion's successor.

[...did that mean Hugo had been worshiped as well? ...probably better not to ask. But then another thing catches her attention:]

...Holy Harmonia? What, did they think they were gods or something?

[That is something no one would know! Where is our real sequel, dammit. He shakes his head again.]

The Kingdom of Harmonia is a theocratic aristocracy. The country is led by a High Priest, but no one's seen him in ages, either.

...if no one's seen him, then who's running the country?

[Why is your world so weird?]

All major decisions are left to the government. Bishops within the Harmonian army also have quite a bit of power. But, as you can guess, their government's a mess. [He takes a drink of his soda.] Harmonia is such a big and powerful nation, however, so despite their internal troubles, they can still take over or wipe out entire countries at their will.

...I see.

[Hmm. Yeah. Your world is still confusing and now also apparently sucks.]

Do they do that a lot?

[Maybe saying that war was common where he came from was an understatement. Er.]

Not really. There have been few invasions over the past couple hundred years that I know of. They have a habit of trying to get involved whenever news of a True Rune gets around, though - that would probably explain why.

Because the True Runes are so powerful, and they want them for themselves. [It's a guess, but it doesn't sound like one. She's about finished her meal by now and is fiddling with a noodle with her fork.]

Most likely. [He smirks. It was probably out of place considering the subject at hand, but she caught on quick. Not that it had been difficult to figure out, of course, but it reminded him a lot of his Flame Champion.] People will do anything for that kind of power.

Some people will. [She frowns down at her plate.] I've met a lot of really strong people since I've come here... people like Diana, who can lift buildings and fly... and people like Mewtwo, who can read thoughts and pretty much bend things with his mind... and Luffy who can bend like rubber... and people like Aku, and Kefka...

They're all strong people. Stronger than me, even, and I know I'm strong. And they're all so different. I don't think it's about power - it's about what you want to do with it.

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