END OF ARC 1: DAY 173 DOWNTIME

[asgardmods]

[Two days of battle have been harsh. The hospital and the Arena are both nearing full, and the smell of charred wood still remains from the few buildings set on fire in Freya district by a dragon on Day 168. Nothing is truly quiet, but this is another welcome break in the violence.

The only question is: how many more cycles can we survive? Though we did well yesterday, it's clear that we'll be wiped out soon if nothing changes.]


[ooc note: this is the catch-all log for Day 173 (Nov 12-13). There is no battle, but there are a lot of general npc wounded of all different species (some of which are outlined here). You can find the battle log for Days 171-172 here, and the shelter log here.

Please be sure to include the day/time of day in the subject line of top-level threads. Also, be sure to have read the entire plot post.

There is a timeline of all important posts in the ooc comm here. If you have plot questions, please submit them to the plot post so everyone else can get the answers. Thank you!]

Comments

[permutation]

[ This time she just pats his shoulder instead of resting her head against it ]

Good. I'll be watching you to make sure that you do, I hope you know.

[sworntovalor]

[There's something pained in his smile; he could never completely hide his mind. When this is done, she won't be able to watch over him. When this is done, she won't remember ever meeting him...]

I will be on my best behavior.

[permutation]

[ And he won't ever remember her or just how awkward she made him feel again and again.

If the gods keep their promises and actually let them go home, that is ]

Do you swear on your honor as a knight?

[ It sounds right and he may not understand 'scout's honor' ]

[sworntovalor]

[It's the most familiar and logical thing she ever said to him, as far as he's concerned.]

I do. [The air about him turns more serious; this is not a vow he takes lightly.]

[permutation]

[ ...she may have heard it in a movie once...

It doesn't take a genius to know that he really is serious about it. It makes her feel a little better about this whole thing. A little better. But not much. She moves closer to wrap her arms around his shoulders ( all the while trying to keep from aggravating his wounds ), giving him a quick hug to show him her appreciation ]

Thank you.

[sworntovalor]

[He pats her lightly, hoping he's not somehow making things worst.]

It is I who should thank you.

[permutation]

[ He actually has nothing to worry about this time. She releases him and moves to kneel in front of him again ]

But why? What did I do?

[sworntovalor]

[He's grown a layer of paranoia since their kiss.]

You helped me with my injury --

[Had he fallen asleep without stopping the bleeding his wound might have turned lethal.]

[permutation]

[ If she were him, she probably would have too ]

Hardly, but you're welcome anyway. I haven't done much else during this whole... everything. I felt like it was the least I could do.

[sworntovalor]

Savings lives is the most important thing you could do, Raven. That is why we all fight - to save each other, ourselves, our world. Caring for the wounded is invaluable work.

[permutation]

I guess I just feel like there's more than I could have been doing. Look at you, for instance. [ She already knows Lancelot is a bad example to use. He doesn't exactly operate by regular standards ] You're out there fighting, and then running around and healing people once the fighting stops.

[sworntovalor]

[He shakes his head]

Measure yourself against your own qualifications. I have had a sword in my hand since I was a child, I grew up fighting. You did not. And I am merely using the power the Gods chose to bestow upon me. We all have different powers, and different levels of skill with them. Mine simply happen to be well suited for this situation.

[permutation]

Do you really think you could look like me and not grow up fighting? [ She knows that her fight would have been different than his, but her point still stands ]

[sworntovalor]

They are different kinds of fighting - knowing how to fight to survive doesn't qualify you to fight a war.

[It's sad, to think of her forced to fight at all. But he knows full well the cruelty of the world.]

What is your weapon?

[permutation]

Fighting a war is fighting to survive though, when you think about it.

[ She's not qualified for war. She always knew that she wasn't qualified for war ]

Me. I'm my weapon.

[sworntovalor]

It is. But a different kind of war. Believe me, Raven. You do not belong on that field.

[If he could, he would keep everyone off it. A war is not something to be rifled with; in many places where the inexperienced fight it seems more a massacre. In others they stand their ground but people still die all around them.

It's a nightmare.]

Out there, you need steel in your hand to survive. What you do is more than enough.

[permutation]

No one belongs out on that field, Lancelot. Not even you. This isn't our fight. This is so-called gods deciding that it's better to kidnap people and sacrifice them to their stupid war. You're bleeding for someone you shouldn't have to bleed for. This is just so stupid. They take away what could actually make us useful to their cause and then expect us to fight for them.

[ She pauses for a moment, breathing heavily. She's angry. Frustrated. Her hands are balled into tight fists at her sides ]

They took away a part of me, the part that actually could have made me more useful to them so now the best that I can do is stay behind and mop up the blood.

[ Fine time to decide to really share, Raven ]

[sworntovalor]

We're also fighting for our worlds. We're fighting for our lives and for the friendships forged - here - and at home. We did not choose to come here, but every man and woman out on that field chose to fight despite of it. We're fighting for ourselves.

[He will never witness another massacre again. Not so long as he draws breath.]

I know not why the Gods chose to take away powers...it happened to a dear friend of mine as well. [Merlin could have done much more out there with his magic, he knows. More than all of them put together.] You had magic?

[permutation]

You're wrong. A lot of the people out on that field didn't chose to fight. They're only fighting because it's better than the alternative. People don't want to fight but they also don't want to die.

[ She doesn't even know if what she's saying makes sense anymore ]

I didn't have magic. I had a mutation. [ She looks down at herself ] I still do. They just took a lot of it away from me.

[sworntovalor]

And that is a choice. They choose to stand up and fight, not because the Gods told them to, but for themselves and their loved ones. Surely that is why we were chosen and not others, the Gods chose people strong of spirit.

[He looks at her with confusion.] I...don't understand.

[permutation]

It's not a choice to not want to die. Not wanting to die is instinct. It's basic instinct to do whatever it takes to stay alive.

[ Where's Charles when she needed to explain mutations... ] Um, what's supposed to make me human, on a really base level, is wrong. My brother could explain it better. Anyway, because of all this stuff being wrong, I look like this, but I can also change how I look. Back home.

It's how I've been surviving.

[sworntovalor]

It is a choice. Many people would choose to try and hide, to try and flee. [He can see his village before his eyes, people trying to run and hide. Himself, running and hiding.] To stand up and fight is much more difficult.

[He frowns at that.] There is nothing wrong with what makes you human. You appear different, but you are as human as I am.

[permutation]

[ She opens her mouth to argue her point again, but then just shakes her head. It's not worth it. They aren't going to get anywhere, after all. She feels like she's right, like people didn't choose to fight and instead just had to. But obviously he feels the same way, like he's right ]

I'm obviously not quite human. [ She laughs and looks down at herself ] And I'm okay with that. [ Starting to be ] I'm not implying that I'm some sort of monster. I'm just different.

[sworntovalor]

I do not think our abilities nor our appearances are what make us human. It is our compassion, our ability to consider and understand and care for one another, and those you have aplenty.

[He smiles softly at her.]

[permutation]

[ That's sweet and all Lancelot, but what if she doesn't want to be human? She used to think that it was what she wanted, but not anymore ]

How can you still be so nice when you're bleeding everywhere?

[ She sounds almost frustrated by this, but she smiles, regardless ]