[ Ernesto hums thoughtfully, though not in agreement to anything Rand is saying. It might be true that something like this had happened to Rand before coming here. Ernesto knows only the smallest amount about Rand's life from the little bits that Rand was willing to share when he made Ernesto promise to take him out before he got too dangerous, but Ernesto suspects that's only scratching the surface of Rand's story.
But he does know some things about Rand. He knows that when Rand first showed up in Godsblood he was entirely turned around in the city, and was unfamiliar with places that big to begin with. He knows that Rand has been training hard to fight with a weapon, even if he hasn't observed most of his attempts, which means he can take a good guess at one thing...
That he might have had more in common with the man that Rand killed than Rand himself did.
He's still turning over in his head how to talk Rand out of guilt tripping himself over the enemies attacking civilians and trying to pin it on Rand, but he can at least address the one thing he knows more about. ]
A soldier in the middle of an active war?
[ He shakes his head just once. ]
He signed on knowing good and well he could die. Unless you're really young, dumb and convinced you're immortal, no one jumps into the fray without knowing there are risks.
[ At least no one who has seen the atrocities of war prior to joining on as a soldier. Things might have been peaceful for awhile in Horos before the current batch of Aions showed up, but it's not like this land had been at rest for that long. Besides, the Regent's soldiers seemed perfectly content inflicting violence and worse upon others, and Ernesto found even his sympathy took a dive when they started pointing weapons at innocents who had no way of fighting back.
Sort of like how all the Aions had been when they first arrived. ]
Some people don't have a choice, but I don't think that's true for the guy you clashed with.
[ He won't say "killed" it's the real word, but he doesn't want to put it out in the air right now. ]
He had plenty of choices. All of them do, and going after helpless people in order to make a guy with an actual conscience feel guilty is one of them, though it's not a very good choice. It's still one they made themselves.
[ He tilts his head now, looking at Rand out of the corner of his eye. ]
no subject
But he does know some things about Rand. He knows that when Rand first showed up in Godsblood he was entirely turned around in the city, and was unfamiliar with places that big to begin with. He knows that Rand has been training hard to fight with a weapon, even if he hasn't observed most of his attempts, which means he can take a good guess at one thing...
That he might have had more in common with the man that Rand killed than Rand himself did.
He's still turning over in his head how to talk Rand out of guilt tripping himself over the enemies attacking civilians and trying to pin it on Rand, but he can at least address the one thing he knows more about. ]
A soldier in the middle of an active war?
[ He shakes his head just once. ]
He signed on knowing good and well he could die. Unless you're really young, dumb and convinced you're immortal, no one jumps into the fray without knowing there are risks.
[ At least no one who has seen the atrocities of war prior to joining on as a soldier. Things might have been peaceful for awhile in Horos before the current batch of Aions showed up, but it's not like this land had been at rest for that long. Besides, the Regent's soldiers seemed perfectly content inflicting violence and worse upon others, and Ernesto found even his sympathy took a dive when they started pointing weapons at innocents who had no way of fighting back.
Sort of like how all the Aions had been when they first arrived. ]
Some people don't have a choice, but I don't think that's true for the guy you clashed with.
[ He won't say "killed" it's the real word, but he doesn't want to put it out in the air right now. ]
He had plenty of choices. All of them do, and going after helpless people in order to make a guy with an actual conscience feel guilty is one of them, though it's not a very good choice. It's still one they made themselves.
[ He tilts his head now, looking at Rand out of the corner of his eye. ]
Not you.