06-08-2008, 01:35 AM
Her words confused him. His point had been that Phoenix had put his family first, even before his friends and his beliefs. Nevertheless, the point she wanted to discuss seemed to be about standing relations, and so he listened to her account, face impassive as she spoke. Her stance seemed...misinformed to his ears, as well as unfavorable. She spoke in generalities, commenting on her own inner conflict which he wasn't savvy to, but also seemed to hold the belief that he desired war with Inferni. If that was true, he would have called in favors. The same people that he would send out looking for Phoenix would also be willing to help him put down a threat in his home. But no, he had commanded the loyalists in his army to disperse. He did not want to bring war here, especially not the kind with which he was familiar. Still, while he didn't understand what exactly had brought on her monologue, he knew how it sounded. If it is easier for me, I will take the wrong side. She was much different than she had been once, it seemed. She was broken, wounded, the fire in her had guttered out.
"I make no claim to know what you've been through," he said, his eyes focusing on some far-off point, "But you should understand, I don't fight the world, I fight a part of it. Inferni isn't the biggest threat I've gone up against, and its warriors aren't the nastiest I've encountered, either. I know that with your family, you have experienced many things that I have not, but you must realize that you have been spared some of my pains, also. I don't know if you've ever killed anyone, or the most brutal thing you've ever seen, but I can guarantee that I've seen worse, and left a body count that would appall you. I have met people whose viciousness far surpassed that of any of these Inferni coyotes, their skulls on sticks not withstanding. Nevertheless, doing what I think is right is important to me, even if it isn't the easiest path to take." His eyes refocused on hers.
"I could simply slip away from all this and stop fighting altogether, stop being responsible for anyone but myself, my name isn't known everywhere, and all of my closest friends are dead or gone. But I won't. It isn't right for me not use my ability to aid others. If Inferni decides to slaughter puppies again like it did at Aremys, is it no one's responsibility to do something about that? Souls has been short a few good, responsible people for a long time, in my view. I know that makes me unpopular, but I believe it, and I can't believe any other way. The leaders of the past should have crushed Inferni when Kaena slaughtered those children. But they didn't. It wasn't any one person's responsibility, so they fled from the prospect of dealing with it. Because of that, Inferni will attack someone else the next time its leadership feels ambitious or annoyed, because the wolf leaders here have taught them through inaction that it's okay to invade them, that it's okay to slaughter children for fun, that there will be no repercussions." He paused a moment, something smoldering behind his eyes.
"Well, everyone else is free to do that, Iskata. They aren't my affair any longer. I am the guardian of Shadowed Sun, nothing more. I know what my responsibilities are, and I know where I stand. If Inferni comes here in force, I will kill as many of them as I can before I fall, even if you support their attack. I do want to ask, though," his eyes looked straight into hers. "If I hadn't been there that day, and your daughter had died, would you still be siding with Gabriel to ease your heartache?"
"I make no claim to know what you've been through," he said, his eyes focusing on some far-off point, "But you should understand, I don't fight the world, I fight a part of it. Inferni isn't the biggest threat I've gone up against, and its warriors aren't the nastiest I've encountered, either. I know that with your family, you have experienced many things that I have not, but you must realize that you have been spared some of my pains, also. I don't know if you've ever killed anyone, or the most brutal thing you've ever seen, but I can guarantee that I've seen worse, and left a body count that would appall you. I have met people whose viciousness far surpassed that of any of these Inferni coyotes, their skulls on sticks not withstanding. Nevertheless, doing what I think is right is important to me, even if it isn't the easiest path to take." His eyes refocused on hers.
"I could simply slip away from all this and stop fighting altogether, stop being responsible for anyone but myself, my name isn't known everywhere, and all of my closest friends are dead or gone. But I won't. It isn't right for me not use my ability to aid others. If Inferni decides to slaughter puppies again like it did at Aremys, is it no one's responsibility to do something about that? Souls has been short a few good, responsible people for a long time, in my view. I know that makes me unpopular, but I believe it, and I can't believe any other way. The leaders of the past should have crushed Inferni when Kaena slaughtered those children. But they didn't. It wasn't any one person's responsibility, so they fled from the prospect of dealing with it. Because of that, Inferni will attack someone else the next time its leadership feels ambitious or annoyed, because the wolf leaders here have taught them through inaction that it's okay to invade them, that it's okay to slaughter children for fun, that there will be no repercussions." He paused a moment, something smoldering behind his eyes.
"Well, everyone else is free to do that, Iskata. They aren't my affair any longer. I am the guardian of Shadowed Sun, nothing more. I know what my responsibilities are, and I know where I stand. If Inferni comes here in force, I will kill as many of them as I can before I fall, even if you support their attack. I do want to ask, though," his eyes looked straight into hers. "If I hadn't been there that day, and your daughter had died, would you still be siding with Gabriel to ease your heartache?"