2023-03-23: Words Between Dawn and Sunset
- Cast: Ennil El, Gai Kurenai
- Where: Tsutsujidai - Kamesan Park
- Date: U.C. 0097 03 23
- Summary: Another pained heart returns to Tsutsujidai, and draws the attention of Ultraman Orb. A lost Ruin Disciple and a Wandering Hero forge a tenuous connection despite their oppositional stances.
<Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
"A real superhero, huh. That's pretty interesting. I guess Tsutsujidai has a couple guys like that. Alright, here. You can both buy a ramune."
The woman kneeling with these two kids at Kamesan park hasn't been seen in town in three months.
She's clearly doing her best not to be seen today, too, with a pair of heavy shades on and her distinctive red hair tied back and forced through a dark baseball cap. It's not her best look, but she's putting up with it. She turns back to a park table, where a package sits.
There was just... no way to give it back herself. And leaving it here hoping to get lucky risked the things inside being stolen, or damaged by rain, or just... left to linger.
Ennil El sighs, pressing her hands into her cheeks and kneading the corners of her eyes as she sinks back onto the bench. As psychic cries for help went, this one was pretty pathetic... but it didn't lack for genuine sorrow.
For this, she needed someone Gridman would trust... and she had her own reasons for wanting to meet with the Giant of Light from that day.
<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
Tsutsujidai is slowly healing. Without the sudden psychic blackout, its residents are ever-so-gradually learning to look out for themselves and each other. Despite the turmoil of the city's creation, every day they turn more to each other for companionship and strength.
Which means that those individuals within the PLANT who cannot be comforted in this way are beginning to stand out again, too.
Gai Kurenai has arrived at the park. The kind of sadness he's feeling is not the panic of lives imperiled by kaiju, or the sheer spirit-crushing despair that bore the city into form, but it is a sadness worth investigating nonetheless.
He approaches the bench where Ennil El is sitting. "Do you mind company?" He asks, gently as he gestures to the space on the bench beside her. If she assents, he'll sit next to her; if not, he'll just stand near the bench.
Either way, he lets silence linger - a silence that politely inquires as to whether the woman would like to fill it.
<Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
At this approach, as Ennil very slowly shifts and tilts to lock eyes on Gai, you can just barely peek past the glasses.
And to the gleam of dancing gold behind them. She lifts a hand amicably all the same. "Mm, yeah. I was hoping to see you, actually. You were... staying at Aya, for the time being, right? If you're still there, I have some things I was going to ask someone to drop off... and if you're a friend of Gridman's, I don't mind trusting you with it."
She sighs, leaning back on the bench and gently slapping her cheeks. Still exhausted... Bad dreams, lately.
"Though. I was also curious about you, in particular. Kids around here say you told them you can, like... hear their cries with your heart, or something like that? And I thought... Well, is it true?"
There's a curious tilt in her eyes, even with their glow trapped behind those dark lenses.
"Assuming you don't mind chatting with a Ruin Disciple, of course. But I really am curious."
<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
Gai's lips thin when he spots the telltale glow of dawnfire behind Ennil's sunglasses, but he doesn't leap into violence immediately.
Even if he could cleanse her of the burning energy driving her, it wouldn't be a winnable fight. Regardless; the expression on his face is one of concern, more than alarm.
"... Yeah, I drop by Aya pretty frequently. Tsutsujidai still needs its Rescue Team, after all." He manages a little smile, sitting down next to her. "I can drop off that parcel - especially if it's important to Gridman."
He considers. "Is it something personal?"
When Ennil asks that question, he chuckles. "Kids do talk a lot, don't they? I told them it was a secret." He leans back, relaxing on the bench. "Sort of. A long time ago, I served on another Rescue Team far away from here, and during that time I learned I could hear calls for help even when it should have been impossible - through metres of rubble, or over a howling storm, for example. The more I reached out to help, I realised I wasn't hearing the survivors' voices, I was hearing their hearts, and I trained to hone my senses until I could reliably discern that emotional wavelength."
He frowns in concern as Ennil shows signs of fatigue, glancing Earthwards. "You too, huh?"
<Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
"...It is, yeah. But those guys have no secrets between them, so I don't really care whether it's Gridman or one of the others who gets it. Well. Okay, Borr might tear it apart if she gets it first. But the others should be fine."
She does chuckle as well when he does, shrugging. "Kids are easily impressed! And folks do know me around here. I don't think they meant any harm. And today, at least, I don't either. I appreciate you understanding that. You were there that day, right?"
She sighs, matching Gai's gaze Earthward and then trailing back down to his face. "Yeah, me too. I'd sort of... stopped reaching out, I guess. It didn't keep me from hearing it, exactly, but... I just swallowed it. Hearing Akane scream like that made me realize what was going on, all the time. Stuff like that, they usually call Newtype, but. As far as anyone can tell, I'm not one. So I didn't really know how to talk about it. Really just that simple for you, hmm?"
She lightly tilts her head towards that troubled blue orb. "Doesn't it... isn't it exhausting?"
<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
"Is it personal for you, though?"
"They are just kids," he does concede. "And I did show off a little in front of them that day." Smashing that car out of the air in front of them - at his normal size, no less - would have been bound to leave an impression.
"As long as you're not trying to hurt anybody, we don't have any reason to fight," he answers with a nod. "And - yes, I was there." He doesn't give any more information than that, though - there are enough clues to figure out who exactly he was on the scene without him spilling the beans unprompted.
"Where I come from, psychic abilities are something that it's understood people can develop an aptitude for," he explains. "My partner didn't have it, but... He is a very smart man and a ferocious fighter, and I admire those skills deeply too."
He listens to Ennil explain. "Hm. I see. I can understand the desire to close yourself off, when exposed to emotional pain like that while not knowing how to deal with it - and I suppose, from one point of view, it would be exhausting, to constantly hear the distress of those in need - especially faced with a planet like this. It can be... very easy to lose yourself in the despair."
"There's a thing I learned, though - no matter how deep the darkness, how impossible things seem, how overwhelming the odds - there are always people caught up in it who are determined to keep fighting for the light, to find a way to make things possible, to stand up time and time again even if they can't win. Surrounding yourself with those people, and appreciating the energy and warmth with which they confront life, helps a lot."
<Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
"...of course it is. Because... he'll see it. I kinda wanted to spare his feelings, but... I don't want Vit to feel forgotten, either. I could never."
Gai lays out his experiences, and Ennil smiles a little bit. "Working alongside friends, and finding comfort in them. Yeah. I was... For a while, that was something I could do here, in Tsutsujidai, but. Now I'm afraid I've lost my chance. And I'm worried that it might not be something I can fix. In a way, I feel like... my kindness then ended up being cruelty, because of what I've done. That's another thing that scares me about the world, if I'm being honest." Gently, her teeth pull at her bottom lip. "I let someone trust me, and disappointed him. I loved them so much for not seeing me as an enemy, but wouldn't we both be happier if they had?"
She sighs, and nods. "There's... a tremendous amount of pain. Since it sounds like you're not from around here, you might not know, but... there's a very terrible man among the Ruin Disciples, now. I get the sense that he's also someone who can feel the misery of others... and he tried, not that long ago, to bring it to an end in a terrible way. Everyone was saved, but only because some people chose to sacrifice their lives." A sharp grimace. "I hated it. The sky was glittering and all I could see was what we'd lost to live one more day. It's going to happen again. And I still don't know... if we've found any way to live with how miserable the world is that isn't just asking people to become sacrifices. I hate that, too."
<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
"It's not up to you whether or not someone else trusts you," the wanderer points out, with a smile. "He knew what had happened to you, right? And you still grew close to each other, even though you both knew that the power of Orange Site would push you apart, inevitably. That's not a sad thing. Being able to make that kind of connection, even when you should be enemies, is a deeply precious thing - in fact, I imagine he might surprise you if you saw him again."
"That kind of thing - confronting somebody precious to you, when you're on opposite lines - never stops being terrifying, though."
He listens to Ennil describe what's transpired with the Oath Over Omega, and frowns. "I see. That is alarming, yes."
He fishes his Orbnica out of his pocket, tapping it on his thigh thoughtfully. "I've been in crises like that before, when the whole world stands on the brink. I swore to find a way to triumph without sacrificing a single life, even the lives of those I was fighting against, but... hm. I'd also like to believe that someone can choose to sacrifice themselves if it means saving others."
<Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
"Ahaha... that scares me, too. I'm not worried about other people hurting me, really, but... I don't want to hurt them. I'm scared of what happens, if he keeps clinging to someone with so many sharp places." Then she tilts her head at the parcel, and a pair of glittering earrings sway as she does. "But I still couldn't bring myself to hope that this would be goodbye. I guess I decided to trust him, too."
Gai answers her, and that deep frown slips over her face again. "I also don't want there to be any more sacrifices. Strictly speaking, either outcome serves the Cosmic Will. The destruction of mankind, or the death of its defenders... From that perspective, this is fate. Unavoidable tragedy. The world will continue to suffer as long as anyone resists. So sometimes I think... heroes are awfully cruel people. Like love, hope is something you can't protect yourself from when it becomes painful..."
Gently, her fingers wear at her leg. "My father, Nada El, served in the One Year War. He refused to support the awful things Zeon was doing. He ran and disgraced himself rather than harm the Earth and its people. Fell in love. Had a child. But others chose to continue fighting... more colonies continued to fall. My father was killed because of his name. The first cry I ever heard... wasn't his, it was the desperate anger and hurt of the people who killed him. And it didn't end, even after... maybe that's why I never wanted to understand others' hearts."
Her eyes go up again, to the Earth, and she strips away the sunglasses, resting them over her hat. Blue and gold glimmer in equal measure, radiant. "In all my memories... I never saw my father in a Zeon uniform. His friends all remembered him fondly... said he was strong, and loyal, and fierce. I never got to see that side of him... he didn't want me to know. ...Now, I wonder how he'll feel, seeing me in a uniform like the one he gave up..."
<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
"Perhaps it's because of your sharpness that he's drawn to you," Gai points out. "Love is the strangest miracle of all of them, from what I've seen - it can forge and maintain a bond across incredible distance. If you believe in each other, things will work out. I'm certain of it."
Are 'heroes' cruel people? "Perhaps they're just people, with all the internal chaos that implies, just trying to figure things out and follow their hearts. I don't think it's cruel to value life - even given the postulate of Triple Zero - because without life, what even is there? Even the Oath Over Omega requires life and its works to make itself manifest."
He continues to listen. "I see why you feel the way you do about sacrifices... and love."
<Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
"Just people... Figuring things out." For the briefest moment, a thin little smile works its way onto Ennil's face. "You sound like a friend of mine. It's a compliment -- she's the strongest, kindest person I know. Though it seems like in exchange, the world gives her nothing but grief..." That grin fades quickly, and Ennil is forced to look down and away. "Myself included... oh, she must be doing terribly right now..."
After a moment of that silence, she sighs and glances up, not towards Earth this time but off into space, into the glittering of the Sides. "It sounds like you've had your fair share, as well. You know, I don't believe it, but. I do hope you're right. That the world is kinder than it seems... that humanity will decide to change, without needing a crisis and a martyr to remind them that life is precious. Maybe it's just selfish of me - Now that I'm friends with so many heroes who keep throwing themselves in the line of fire, and all."
Very slowly, she lifts herself from the bench, shifting the parcel over towards Gai. "Until that day, this is my duty. ...I can't turn away from it. But Ruin Disciples have been defeated before, haven't they? Maybe they really will surprise me..."
<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
Gai nods. "Part of the problem with believing in a better world is you're going to take a stand, and the cruelty in the world responds to a nail sticking up with a hammer. That's not the fault of the 'hero', but of the person who sees someone trying to make something better and resolves to destroy that person."
He takes the package, almost reverently. "I'll see that it reaches them."
"I do have a question, but... As you are, I don't think I would get an honest answer." He grins knowingly. "I know that it's difficult to believe in anything besides the axioms of the Oath, at present; so I will believe in your friends for you, and I will believe in you, too. When they've come for you, I hope you'll seek me out again so that I can ask the question."
<Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
"Thank you. Really. I was tearing myself up a bit, trying to figure out how to get it to them. I don't think any of them would be as patient with me as you have... not that I could blame them. But it would have turned into a fight, and I didn't want that."
Her head tilts, a bit, when he says he has a question for her. "I guess that's pretty fair. Alright, if it works out that way, I'll hear you out. And if it doesn't, well, we won't have much to talk about anyway, right? Just keeping an eye on the universe until it's time to close up and turn the lights off."
A hand raises, and a disc of glimmering orange stretches out to receive her. "Unfortunately, the apocalypse is a lot of work. The sky doesn't fall on its own. Char's going to have to show up and push." With an... oddly jovial little wave, Ennil blinks into the dimensional window, and is vanished instantly.
<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
Gai watches the Escape Window close up around Ennil, sighing.
"Humans. As foolish as ever."
Even so, there is a sweet, fond smile on his face as he lifts his Orbnica to his lips, letting that familiar melody waft over Kamesan Park; a reminder that Light remains to watch over not just Tsutsujidai but this fraught Earth as well.