I'm Just A Soul Whose Intentions Are Good | Video| OTA

[ushahin]

[The first thing is that the phone has been propped between two branches on a tree in the orchard. Ushahin needs both hands for the task at hand. He's trying to peel a piece of fruit that has a bright purple skin on it. The problem is that if he tries to use his good hand to peel, his bad one can't hold onto it firmly enough, so it falls. If he tries to use his bad hand to peel while his good hand holds, his crippled fingers don't have enough force to break the skin. He'll be trying both methods alternately as he speaks in his usual soft tone.]

I was thinking tonight. A dangerous pastime, to be certain, but what I was thinking was this. How many of us who have been brought here are good? [He pauses, trying to get his nails under the skin, and he fails.]

I would ask how many of you here think you are a good person but-- [And there goes the fruit again, falling out of his bad left hand. He sighs and picks it back up.] --I don't think many of us have that high of a opinion of ourselves. I know I don't. [He's shattered too many minds and killed far too many people to think he's still got a soul anywhere close to being pure.]

So I will ask this. How many of you think those who are here with you are good people? Your family and friends, how many of them are good souls? [The fruit slips from his grasp once again.]

Damn. [He's given up trying to do this the nice, neat way. He ends the video by using his good hand for support, then biting down into the peel, and using his teeth to tear it partially off. It's not the most dignified method of being able to peel the fruit, but at this point, he's too stubborn to give up.]

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[ushahin]

Mayhaps not all of them. But there are one or two that have caused far too much harm.

[His eyes dart from side to side. He's got no doubt that whatever he says out loud will get back to them eventually, but inside his mind is a different story. His next words are said directly inside Shadow's.]

I brought something with me besides the Helm when I came. A dagger called Godslayer. It can permanently wound immortal flesh and is the only thing in my world that can kill a god.

[Only with Shadow would he trust such delicate information with. If anyone else knew about it, that would cause all the troubles that had befallen him back home.]

[ushahin]

This weapon was responsible for all of the misfortune I have ever encountered in my world.

[Something slips through into Shadow's mind, the tail end of a memory. Ushahin kneeling beside a figure of a dark, shadowy god, his red eyes growing dim with death. There's a dark pool of blood beneath him. He begs Ushahin to end his pain and remove Godslayer from where it was stabbed in his chest. Ushahin complies, tears in his eyes. In the present, realizing what has happened, the half-man reels the memory back in, allowing the end of it to dissipate into a white fog.]

I have been keeping it a secret until I was sure of what needed to be done. It is not a weapon I would trust lightly around most others, for its powers are far-reaching and could have dire consequences. But I believe the time is coming where I will need to act.

[ushahin]

I don't fully know. But when I see more of the pattern, I shall be able to decide. Can I count on you to help me when the time comes?

[He gazes at his young friend. It takes steady hands and a strong heart to wield Godslayer. Physically, Ushahin cannot do it, crippled as he is with only one good hand. He must trust in his friends when the time comes. Shadow, he knows, is one of the few that are worthy to wield such a powerful weapon.]

[ushahin]

[Ushahin nods, his face kind with understanding. He'd never use Shadow the way he's used others in the past, manipulating their minds to achieve his own desires. He fears losing his friendship too much for that. He can only hope that he can convince the little hedgehog when the time is right. And it is coming. Ushahin has no way of being able to tell the future, for his abilities do not stretch that far. But he knows patterns. His own is closing in on him, the net drawing tight to reveal what it all looks like.]

You know I wouldn't use you in such a manner. You're my friend, not a means to an end. [And in his mind:] I understand, Shadow.