[Semi-Open] An Esteemed Guest of Lohkimareen

[warmare]

WHO: Hayame (warmare) & Makoto('s Head) (affal) & You
WHAT: Visits, interrogations, supply drops, medical aid, nightmares, maybe an eventual rescue?
WHERE: Lohkimareen, near the Valley of the Innocent
WHEN: Throughout Sekiseri (Sept.)
WARNINGS: there is a living severed head in this log and almost no one is going to be nice to him + a variety of referenced CW's (torture, amputation, SA, etc.)

[There is a new resident of the forest of Lohkimareen, to the west along the border with the Valley of the Innocent. It had taken portals and days of travel to make her way there, but Hayame (and her unwilling "guest") now call those woods... "home", following the advice of the aion Tehri, who assured that the Regent's eyes should not be able to penetrate the trees. So for now, Hayame and the severed head of the Kenoma Makoto tied to her withers spend their nights in hollow trees and caves, moving location each day, just in case, even though the forest is supposed to protect them.

Perhaps she would have spent those days quietly, putting her efforts into recovering from her injuries... if Makoto would stop waking in the night and mouthing off at her, and if he was not a valuable potential resource to the Pleroma, some of their number which desire to speak to him. But she will not trust his "care" to another, not when he was... something. Her trophy, her hostage. Even when others come to call, she refuses to leave the "room", even if she will largely leave them to their devices as long as the visitors do not touch or attempt to mess with the shard in the man's skull. ... There's a bit for when he gets too mouthy, blinders and earplugs for when sensitive information needs be discussed between only the Pleroma. Other than that, he looks... almost well taken care of.

Supplies need to be brought, Hayame needs medical care for the raw eye socket where her left eye had been, there are interrogations and talks with Makoto to be done... But what business has brought you here today?]

starters and wildcards go below! please use the OOC plotting post to check-in first, plz and thanks!

Comments

[goldendeceiver]

[ Well shit... this sounds like a much more complicated situation that Ernesto was expecting it to be. He keeps his expression neutral as he listens to Hayame's accusations, and as his eyes trail over to Dextera, he betrays absolutely nothing about what he's thinking in the look on his face.

He'll let the man say his piece too though, and though he hates doing this in front of other people given the location of his shard, he slides a hand under his shirt to pop the crystal out and listen to what Dextera is saying right now.

He's silent for a few seconds looking at the sad, crumpled looking man on the ground, before glancing over at the seething centaur next to him. From all he knows about her Hayame isn't a liar, but at the same time Hayame's view of the world is somewhat skewed... He wants to believe Dex when he says that he doesn't want to betray anyone.

But he also believes Hayame when she says he professed some sort of loyalty to Mr. M. He doesn't exactly know what that means, but he does think about the fact that Dextera had begged Ernesto to bring him along on this. If he just wanted information he could have simply asked another Pleroma to ask specific questions and relay the answers back, but he didn't... ]

I don't think you're looking to betray anyone, Mr. Dextera. At least, I don't think your intention is to do harm to anyone here.

[ A quick, pleading look at Hayame. Don't get angry with him yet. ]

But I think it's best for everyone, you included, if you keep your distance from Mr. M in the future. I don't know what the relationship between the two of you is, but he's a dangerous guy. You know that, right?

[ His attention focuses back on Dextera as he speaks as calmly as possible, trying to be diplomatic. ]

And Hayame's already putting herself at pretty big risk by keeping him captive for the rest of us.

[warmare]

[For a moment, she sees the dog-earred spice trader as someone else. She almost hears Matsukaze's voice in her ears, assuring her that the monster she saw in the young jinba Mikuni was redeemable, that he wasn't lost like she thought he was. That all he needed was someone to bring him back home.

But she couldn't- She hadn't been able to be that person. Matsukaze was that person. The one who had grabbed her by the wrist before her slaps rained down on her charges for their poor behavior and mistakes, strong enough to stop her but not harshly enough to hurt. The one who had showed her what genuinely good people did and how they acted.

Those two months of learning had been ruined in just two weeks in Horos. Her fingers curl tight over the scale in her hand, and though Ernesto's plea for her stay her hand or stay back is enough to keep her physically distant for now, it isn't enough to prevent her from snarling out accusations. Mr. M is a dangerous guy?]

He slit Liem's throat when he tried to leave the Kenoma! He killed Estinien, I felt it!

[Well, he had been one of many, but the wound he'd left, that she'd felt through their active communion in that moment... had been the beginning of the end. And she could not believe the dragoon had survived such mutilation. Hayame blindly rubs at the thin blood and serum leaking from her bandage before going back to pointing aggressively.]

He's not just dangerous, he's a demon!

[In heart, and... seeing as he'd survived what he had, perhaps in body, too. And any friend of a demon...]

[passio]

[ perhaps dextera could give everything he has to try to defend the way he feels about makoto. he could explain all that makoto has done for him, beyond just arming him, the kindness and genuine care that he’s shown amidst all these horrendous acts. in all dextera’s memory, makoto is the only person who knows how deeply sinful dextera’s existence is and doesn’t mind it. it’s easy for people to spare him kindness when they don’t know what he’s done. it doesn’t make them less sincere, but it does give makoto a weight that the more pure-hearted among them just can’t offer.

but what good would explaining any of that do? he knows that hayame and ernesto aren’t wrong. makoto is dangerous, he’s wicked. makoto is tied to the regent in a way few, if any, others are, and he seems to relish his own importance in it all. none of those things are forgivable, but dextera has an unshakable sympathy for that very quality. ]

…

[ he tries not to give into the petty impulse to go silent, even though anything he says will probably make it worse. if he can at least make his case to ernesto, he’ll be content with being hated so long as he can just go home. ]

He’s not… worse than I am.

[ the words themselves don’t help, obvious even to the person saying them, but there’s a profound self-loathing the comes with them. ]

But I know. I won’t ask to see him again.

[ there are two tangible facts that nonetheless remain unspoken in dextera’s mind: he is attuned the pleroma, and makoto has hurt him less than hayame. only the same self-loathing as before keeps him from biting it out to defend himself, but it doesn’t stop them from flickering through his thoughts. ]

[goldendeceiver]

[ The crimes aren't comparable, not really, but Ernesto had done something not too differently himself, hadn't he? When the Kenoma had imprisoned Rand with the intention of taking him back to Achamoth, Ernesto has slit Amos throat rather than even risk talking to the man. He'd broken into the jail they held his friend at with Akua, and he'd attacked without hesitation or warning.

He hadn't killed him that time though, at least he thinks he probably didn't. He hadn't killed anyone yet in this world, but his hands weren't exactly clean either.

Ernesto is silent as he takes it all in for a moment. Hayame clutching something tightly in her hand, the feelings leaking from Dextera through the communion connection. There's a flash of understanding that comes from Ernesto at the, gone in a second and replaced by some lingering doubt after.

No, Ernesto's own hands weren't clean either, and he couldn't claim to be a good person...

But he felt remorse for his actions. Though he might not be at the point that he hated himself for what he did, the guilt still existed, and it made it easier to recognize that feeling in Dextera too. If he really was just as bad as M, then he doubts that those feelings of self-loathing would be there in the first place. ]

I'm not really sure I can make a judgment call on anyone at the moment, but if you know then that's enough for me right now.

[ He glances up uncertainly at Hayame, not sure if she feels the same way. ]

The two of us can head out of here if that'd be better for you, but...

[ And here he hesitates, he wonders if this offer is just going to make her angrier or not. ]

I can stay if you'd rather not be alone with Mr. M right now.