voice

[dragoon_pride]

...It can’t be…
...a nightmare…failed...
...couldn’t have… died…

[He’s muttering to himself, so only a few stray words are clear enough to be heard, at first. He hadn't intended those to be heard, necessarily, as he's checking that the phone is even on. Then, he clears his throat and speaks normally.]

Kain Highwind of the Guard reporting in. What is the current situation with the demons? I can… [He pauses, more mentally disoriented than anything. The reality of the situation is still sinking in, the memories of being possessed are… deeply unsettling. Not again. He can’t believe he’s lost himself again.] I can go anywhere I’m needed to continue our fight.

[Sigh. Well, there it is. He's in a bit of denial over what happened, but he knows deep down the truth of the matter. He'd been possessed, and... killed. Shadow, that hedgehog had ended his suffering. For now, he’ll throw himself into fighting, a warrior above all else. Mental distress will just have to get shoved deep down inside. But there is… something else bothering him. He belongs to the air, to the wind. He wants to feel that breeze on his face, to see the sky change in color. He’ll even take overcast if he could just see clouds again. The withdrawal is real.]

This is unrelated, but… How can everyone withstand a place without a sky for so long, anyway? Does anyone know if there's some way to see it again, even for a few moments?

Comments

[fulcra]

If the rifts are still around, I haven't seen them. But I'd probably want to see for myself, too. I don't blame you. [ it is hard to leave safety up to other people sometimes. ] I'm Ahsoka, by the way. I haven't been on the Guard long, so I've been trying to introduce myself to everyone.

[dragoon_pride]

Yes, I prefer to see it for myself. I promised that I would patrol a certain area, and it would be wrong for me to neglect that duty, any more than I already have.

[He had a pretty good excuse, being dead, but even so...]

Good to meet you, as another Guard member... I'm also a somewhat new recruit. I joined over a month or so ago, not long after I arrived here.

[fulcra]

Around the same time as me, then. I admittedly wasn't on board immediately. History with one of the captains and all that. But it's good to know that the rest of the Guard are devoted to their patrols.

[dragoon_pride]

It helps that I was a dragoon where I came from, a knight. This is a natural fit for me...

You had history with one of the captains? Then... they came from the same world as you did? [Had to have, if she's relatively new, he's assuming.]

[fulcra]

[ it's almost funny to her that the concept of knight is one that seems to persist across universes. she might have been one, too, if her past had been different. ]

In a manner of speaking. Maketh Tua and I were on opposite sides of a conflict, in our home galaxy. We only knew one another by reputation, but that was enough to colour our perceptions.

[dragoon_pride]

I wonder how often that happens... People being brought from the same world, that is. I wonder if I'll see others, as well.

[He doesn't want to have anyone from home pulled into this, but some selfish part does want to see certain familiar faces again.]

It must be difficult, having someone you would consider an enemy here.

[fulcra]

It's... been a little awkward, but nothing we haven't been able to work through. [ she pauses, sounding almost amused in a dry sort of way. ] It helps that she worked with people much worse than she could ever be. But an ally instead of an enemy right off the bat still would've been nice.

[dragoon_pride]

That would have been helpful, to be in such a strange place with someone you know and can trust. Have you at least called a truce while here?

[He has to wonder if he'd have been able to do so, if any of his own enemies were to show up. It would be tough.]

[fulcra]

We have, yes. Whatever her opinion of me, I'd protect or fight alongside her as I would anyone else here. And I can't deny she knows what she's doing, organizing the Guard.

[ which is clearly her measure of trust. ]

[dragoon_pride]

That's good that you can set aside your differences while you're here. It's important... after all, we have far more pressing concerns in this place.

[He can only hope he would do the same if one of his enemies showed up. It would be especially hard with most Chaos Warriors, but he'd at least try.]

[fulcra]

That we do. Enemies can become allies against a common threat. And common threats are a reoccurring theme here. The place just can't get enough of them.

[dragoon_pride]

All too recurring, I'm starting to notice... but you're right. When facing such terrible threats, it's necessary to set aside past differences.

[fulcra]

Agreed.

But what about you, is there anyone from your past here? It seems there are a few of us that get the benefit of that.

[ "benefit" being a really generous term here. ]

[dragoon_pride]

No... I'm not sure that I want there to be, either...

[At least, at the moment they're talking, but that will all change in time. Not that Kain doesn't want to see any of them, but... it's for the best not to.]