2023-06-28: Will You Take The Path Of Vengeance?
- Log: Will You Take The Path Of Vengeance?
- Cast: Knight, Eight York
- Where: Orb Union - Ra Mari II Resupply
- Date: 2023-06-28
- Summary: Knight goes to visit the Ra Mari II to pay his debts. There, he speaks with Eight, shares news of Leina, and asks her to decide whether she's seeking revenge for the wrongs done to her people. But that's not her decision -- and once he's established that, Knight is satisfied. He shares some insight into the nature of kaiju with Eight, but the Ra Mari II doesn't hold any kaiju concerns for him... on a second visit. It does hold a new friend, though!
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
The Ra Mari II has berthed itself, here in the Orb Union, to unload passengers and load supplies. What the crew of the massive Monitor might not expect, however, is a young man in a dapper suit and --
And a sword. He just kind of has a sheathed sword dangling behind him.
Knight has a blue eye, where Anti's were both red, and it is calmer as he makes his demand. "I've come to speak with Eight York."
"And what are you here for?" One of the women in the loading crew frowns.
"To speak with Eight York." Knight's expression doesn't shift an inch.
"I... I see..." She huddles up to have a hushed conversation with a group of people just as burly as her, but eventually, someone puts the call though.
(It's another woman, who recognises Knight as the young man who appeared when Gridknight disappeared, during their battle with the General Revil. He was on their side, back then, but he slipped out quickly afterwards. Not quickly enough for no one to remember him, apparently.)
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
There are a lot of supplies they need, after a battle like that--to say nothing of the things they need to account for the casualties. but indeed, the massive Monitor's crew does not expect to take on a dapper young man with a sword. So, the loading crew frowns, and...
A few minutes later:
"You were looking for me?"
Eight York is out of uniform; she is not inclined to start power struggles with people mistaking her for handling day to day operations while she's on leave. She is, thus, a blonde woman in a red dress, pregnant, and in decent-seeming spirits given the strange call sent to her today.
The word is 'bemused', actually, as soon as she sees him and connects who he is.
"Oh," Eight says. "You're looking well." She looks up and down Knight, thoughtfully, and then regards his sword. Hmmm.
"Still, you wanted to speak to Eight York, and here I am."
There's a security person down the way, keeping an eye on them, but Eight isn't worried.
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Knight turns, and looks at Eight. His eye narrows. He considers her, carefully.
"Yes," he says, a moment later.
... he only met her face-to-face that one time. He's lost the eyepatch. Gained some height. It's his other eye, covered, now, but by his hair this time.
"This is the ship you command." Just as she said, last year. "Or one like it." She still had a Clop-Class, back then. "I landed here. So I wouldn't suffocate." And that would be regarding the battle they just went through, surely.
"Pay your debts... I mind my manners. But I don't know what you need, Eight York. Tell me."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight is confident. She's also tired--that much, Knight might identify too, despite her usual efforts to conceal it. But she doesn't back down under scrutiny.
"...I've changed ships, since we last spoke about it," Eight says. "This is the Ra Mari II. She's a refitted Zentradi Monitor, designed for people much bigger than I am. But we've changed things around so 'miclones' like us can run her."
That would be...
"You helped in the battle, didn't you?" Eight asks. That would ordinarily be enough...
"Well, if you want to talk about what I need, I suppose what I need first is to take a seat. Come on over here; we can discuss and get out of everyone's way."
She gestures with her head towards the sitting-room off the hangar.
"...Because I suppose I'm not sure what I need right now, either."
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
"Ranka Lee's people. I understand." Knight nods, sharply, just the once. He understands the Zentradi through the lens of Ranka, but maybe that's not so bad.
Nidaime knows them through the lens of everyone assuming she is one, so at least Knight's referring back to an actual Meltrandi instead of mistaken identity. Well, someone partly Meltrandi. He's not actually sure if Ranka can embiggen herself; he's never seen her do it.
(He would approve.)
He nods, again, when Eight asked if he helped them. "Mm." It's a wordless noise of assent.
And then, "All right."
Knight looks back to her, as he walks to the sitting-room. He is not above offering her his arm if she looks wobbly. He's a Knight. He won't push it, though, and soon enough he takes a seat -- which is a little more awkward than it looks, because he kind of has to hitch his sword up to not get totally stuck in the backrest. It would be easier to take the sword off, so obviously, he doesn't.
"Leina Ashta is safe," he tells her, once she's settled. "We're seeing to her. The Second is keeping watch, now." A light pause, "We won't have visitors for a while. Since Martha Vist Carbine is still out there." The threat that poses ought to be obvious; Knight doesn't bother to illustrate it.
"But not all your people are safe." Knight says, with that same grim expression. "I felt it. The people here felt loss. Someone died, or was injured." He's not powerful enough to know it's both. He is powerful enough to ask: "Do you want revenge, Eight York?"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"Yes. My fiance's, too," Eight says. She worries about him. A shoulder wound to a Zentradi warrior is almost not worthy of note, but... she worries anyway, because it was serious enough that they kept him under observation for a few days, in case. Though what Eight doesn't realize is that part of that may have been an excuse to make him finally rest some, too. They're both bad about it.
But Knight helped them, and that, "That means a lot already."
She is a little wobbly, but not enough so that she feels the need to take the offered help. She's fine once she takes a seat. It's much less awkward for her, because she doesn't have a sword.
Maybe she should have a sword.
"...That's a relief to hear," Eight says of Leina. "Yes, that makes sense. I'd like to send her a card, some flowers if it's allowed. Please let me know when she is up for visitors. I'm willing to wait as long as it takes her. I know that we can't go around crowding her right now. ...I've been where she is."
Martha Vist Carbine... yes, that's a threat.
Eight notices that grim expression, and she opens her mouth and closes it again, apparently struck by his question. "...They did," she says. "We had a number of casualties. One was... a particularly important person to me."
She considers. "...that's a good question, but it's not the right question, I think." Pause. "Let me explain. Do I 'want' revenge? Yes. Yes, I do. I want to... I don't know. But something. Something painful."
"...But I shouldn't," she says. "If we focus on vengeance instead of justice--if we focus on getting 'back' what we lost, instead of focusing on what we can improve--that's a road that I don't want to go down. So if I see the chance to bring him to justice, or the Vists--I'll help with that."
"But I won't pursue 'revenge'. That's not the person I want to be."
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Every woman should have a sword. Just not this one. This sword was a gift.
"I'll bring them to her. We'll let you know." Knight gives his answers in logical order, and without excessive decoration, in that same gruff voice he always uses. It's more mature than it was, before. Do kaiju really grow up that fast?
Knight listens, as Eight speaks of the casualties. He does not, immediately, reply; she hasn't finished giving her own answer, in logical order. It's only after she decides she won't pursue revenge that he nods, again, sharp and singular.
His movements are all deliberate, too.
"Then I can't help you kill. That's your decision." He doesn't say whether it's good or bad; only underlines that it was made. And: "I respect it."
He's quiet, for a moment.
"If you want to do something painful, find something to destroy. Something you won't regret hurting... annihilate it completely. Holding that inside you will just wear you out. And you're full already."
...
knight doesn't know about pregnancy, does he.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight will not take Knight's sword.
"Thank you," Eight answers. Brevity doesn't particularly bother her--Lavhi used to be more brief than he is now, though they've changed each other a bit at this point. Besides, just like before, Eight can talk enough for the both of them.
Once she answers, she notices his reply... and she nods. "That's just as well," Eight says. "You already helped us in battle; you don't owe me for use of our space if you were on our side, not such a small use as that. If you'd broken the hangar, we might have to talk."
He respects her decision...
"I'm--" Eight pauses. And tilts her head. And then, then she gets it, and laughs, in surprise and something like happiness. "Oh, no," she says. "I'm not looking for pain."
"That's not what I'm 'full' of, though. Regrets. I'm--" Pause. "I'm having a baby," she explains, putting her hands about her belly as if to demonstrate. "Two, actually. This is..." How to explain? If he doesn't know...
"This is what it looks like when a human woman is about halfway through the gestational period."
"But, thank you. It's kind of you to think of me that way. ...It's a little hard to find outlets for feelings like that, when people are looking to you for stability."
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
"I fit." Mind you, Gridknight is fifty metres tall and forty thousand tonnes -- but he's lithe, at that, so he could have easily ducked. (If he fits, he sits...) He didn't need to be large very long, as soon as he was inside. Luckily, they figured out that what he needed was oxygen pretty quick.
But Eight laughs, and Knight tilts his head, not unlike a cat who can't figure out how to get outside and reach the birds. He blinks, once, and once again.
"So that's the situation... I understand." Knight was carved from clay for a specific purpose; he never spent any time as a baby, which might explain why he didn't grow up in the linear way a human would expect, either. Beat: "I didn't know humans could have two humans at once. Very efficient, Eight York."
(Just take the compliment.)
He shrugs, folding his arms loosely across his chest. "I don't know how to look to you, so I'll just do as I've always done. Emotions give birth to and nurture kaiju, so I can't leave someone to suppress how they feel. Even if you're responsible for everyone, you still have yourself to think about."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Oxygen is important! For some kaiju, too, it would seem.
Either way, Knight clearly does fit. And Eight watches as she explains, apparently used to explaining things though she hasn't achieved Inez Fressange's sheer proficiency at it. It's the situation; it would explain why he didn't grow up that way, but for now Eight can simply assume that Knight's nature did not include time as a baby. Then, he says--
"Ahahah," Eight answers. "Thank you!" Very efficient. Yes, she'll take the compliment. Her body is doing something well, after all!
But then... "Hmm. So my emotions, too, could nurture kaiju..." She wonders about that. "That would be a problem, I suppose. ...No, most of what I do for my feelings is... talk to people I care about. Or spend time with my fiance. You remember him from that day, I think." She still has herself to think about...
"But you're right, I do. You seem to be caring a lot for people. Bringing word of Leina, looking after me..."
"Is that what you wanted to talk about?" she wonders.
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Knight's no longer a kaiju. He's just an irregular being.
(Aboard the nearby Nadesico, Inez Fressange sneezes, and wonders to the camera whether someone had a question. Don't make eye contact; she hunts based on movement.)
"Human hearts feed the source," he explains. "But kaiju must have a source. Your emotions won't birth a kaiju without it. I was worried about this place... but now I'm here, it's fine." Has he detected Arriety's lingering presence..? "It's somewhere else. I'll keep searching." Somewhere not too far away, apparently, but...
Knight grunts. "... in any case, humans can't lose their hearts out of fear of kaiju. That's why irregulars like me remain here. If a kaiju threatens humanity, I'll kill it without hesitation." He doesn't... sound like he's exaggerating. He's tried to take more care with humans, since that day with Utsumi, but...
Maybe he's just a severe kind of guy.
"So don't be afraid to talk to your people, Eight York." His fingers drum, on his arm. "And you can call this care, if you like. It doesn't affect me either way. But since this is the topic you brought to me, this is what I came here to talk about. I had a debt to pay. If I left without thanking you, I would have been rude." He doesn't even bother hiding the shovel he buried that lede with. It's just lying out there, like a sad, discarded metaphor.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight won't make eye contact with her this time.
"I see..." That's a problem she hadn't realized both brought up and 'solved' for the moment. But Eight does catch that. He was worried... "Because we'd seen loss," Eight says. "...The crew is resilient. We've felt loss, and we'll feel more in the future. But all of us are here because we chose to be. This is the path we decided to walk. And so, we'll keep going."
A presence of a kaiju, a source of kaiju... it could be.
"I see." Without hesitation... Admittedly, most kaiju Eight has met who threaten humanity have no other solution that she's seen. Maybe even all. "We're lucky to have a protector."
It doesn't affect him either way... "I see. Then..."
"I won't," Eight says. "Be afraid to. It's a good reminder that I can." She pauses. "...In that case," Eight says, "I can confirm, you've fulfilled that debt. You came back to check up on us, and confirmed for me that we don't have another problem to worry about. You also brought me news of someone important to me."
"Thank you for your conscientious reply." She considers, for a moment. "...I do think you'd like Lavhi if you got to talk to him more. Maybe next time you're here."
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
"Must be." Knight grunts, with another nod, when Eight talks about the losses of the crew. "I can't sense kaiju any more than you can. But I can see human hearts, now. It was an emotional battle. Someone like me should be concerned with that." Evidently, he is. He came here, after all.
He nods, again, when Eight says they're lucky. He's graceful enough to take the compliment silently.
"Good. Remember that." Knight is -- let's call it concise -- enough that he's able to offer her that advice before she offers him something. He looks... satisfied? He's a stoic kind of guy, but it's not impossible to tell, particularly for someone as sharp as Eight.
The way he puts it is: "Understood."
And he doesn't think there's anything weird about the way Eight says it at all!
He does pause, for a moment. "Lahvi? That's his name?" Knight presses, for confirmation. If this conversation is anything to go by, he tends call people by their full names. ... he was taught about expressing his feelings that way, a long time ago. "Where is he now?"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"It was," Eight agrees, an emotional battle. She doesn't elaborate on the details; he's not asking, and she's not inclined to open up that particular wound just now. Instead, she notes that he is concerned by such things. "Seeing the human heart... I understand, I think."
Eight will remember that. And she can tell that--well. It's the reason she said it, anyway; she's used to switching into clarity, into being, if not concise, then at least precise in her wording, sure of what she's saying. Knight isn't the first person with a communication style like his that she's known, after all.
"His full name is Lavnadim Orlodhari. I call him 'Lavhi', when we're off duty. But he doesn't mind the full use of his name, either." "He's in the medical bay. He's awake, and honestly, probably fairly bored. He was wounded during the ship battle. He'll recover, though. He's very strong."
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Sometimes people don't need to talk about the details. If Eight wanted to discuss it, she'd bring it up. She doesn't, so Knight doesn't, either.
"Lavnadim Orlodhari," he nods, instead, and commits the name to his memory. "... I'll visit him before I leave. All right?" Knight -- didn't get the memo that Eight is on leave right now, apparently. But he's doing his best to be a polite visitor.
Either way, Knight stands.
"It was good to speak with you, Eight York. I won't worry about you, because Rena Lancaster is here. Once, she saved me, too."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"Yes," Eight answers. "That would be good." Eight thinks it'll be a nice surprise for him; she's been shooed away from sitting with him all day, so a visit might be nice. ...Eight's on leave, but it's not really important that she avoid this particular set of decisions. Once he stands, though--Eight does not stand with him, for the moment. She seems to have decided to stay where she is for now.
"Likewise," Eight answers. "...And that's good. Rena's very reliable; I lean on her a lot." She says it fondly.
"Take care."