'Tis not a grave. More... an offering, one might call it. Or waymark... 'Tis not easy to find the right word in this tongue.
[Hythlo gestures to the circle.]
The mark of the Wanderer. If... Atsushi has departed... then it would be within my domain to guide him. Yet if he lives still, 'tis Azem's task to see him back safe.
[That feels unexpectedly like Hythlo is about to veer into... myth stuff. It was just a couple days ago that Sagi nearly cried onto Hythlo's hospital bed, and it occurs to him now that he still doesn't really know who Hythlo is supposed to be, nor the kind of place he's from. Of course, Sagi offloading his own explanations was the point at the time, and a little distance from other people has always been normal for him... Why would it suddenly strike him as unfair, days after the fact?
Maybe it's because of the grave. Quietly, he clasps both hands to his heart. He hasn't thought of any words yet. Prayer as he knows it isn't so formal as to just hand them to him.]
Indeed. My sight... I see the flow of life to the Underworld. 'Tis only fitting that I act as a guide to those who cannot find their way there.
[He falls silent as Sagi prepares to pray, though, and simply looks out to the faraway forest and the sky. Whatever it is Sagi feels needs to be said, out loud or in his heart, he's free to speak it as he will.]
[On that much, he sounds firm. Atsushi is alive somewhere until they find proof he's not. Sagi didn't know him well enough for the right to say otherwise.
He closes his eyes, briefly.]
May he find his way back.
[Back to them, or back home, or back into some state where he can start over and figure out how to be a little happier. It doesn't matter. That's the whole thing.
He holds his hands together only a few seconds longer before letting them drop.]
[You know what, sure. Everyone they travel with except him keeps picking up more strange magic abilities he can't keep track of. Atsushi was making some attempt at a list, wasn't he? Those surveys... But that's lost in the same place he got lost, in the depths of the forest or wherever else.
Sagi sticks his hands in his pockets so that he isn't tempted to poke at the stone, see how solid it is. That would be rude.]
[Hythlo smiles, too, but his smile is more subdued, more wistful.]
...That, too, was no uncommon thing in my homeland. I... cannot understand the cruelty of this world. At times I think it must be simply a bad dream, yet I still wake here every day.
[He stares at the stone again, unseeing. Come to think of it, wasn't it Atsushi in whom he first saw the extent of damage humans are willing to inflict upon each other? It made him sick with terror at first; now, the feeling is more akin to confusion and deep sadness. He doesn't know if that is a good or a bad thing.]
Edited (imagine not making typos in your dramatic tags) Date: 2020-11-09 09:27 am (UTC)
He's unsure whether it'll help or make things worse, but Sagi steps a little closer and, as gently as possible, puts his hand on the side of Hythlo's giant arm.]
They're rebuilding, too, and helping each other. It's not everyone.
[Then he hesitates, because the next thought he has is one of the few he doesn't tend to voice much.]
It's... a lot of people. Usually with their own reasons. Sometimes they don't even mean it. But never everyone.
[Hythlo takes a deep breath and puts his hand over Sagi's, trying to show his appreciation.]
I understand. I... never meant to insinuate there is naught but evil in this world. But the cruelty that exists... I cannot comprehend it. And... I cannot help but pity those who choose the darker path, as well. 'Tis not a choice one can make out of happiness, of that I am certain.
[He looks down, trying to breathe evenly.]
Yet I could never deny that it terrifies me. Truly. Mayhap I am simply too weak.
"Weak" isn't it. I think that's where everything else starts. Seeing what people are capable of, for what it is, and... deciding not to be that.
...That might sound like just a platitude, coming from me.
[It's a little rare for Sagi to sound overtly self-deprecating like this. Is it Sagi doing the talking right now? Well, it has to be in the absence of anyone else, so he isn't thinking about it.]
I can't always handle it either, so... [A small, casual shrug with his other hand.] Who knows.
[It's mildly hypocritical for him to pretend a part of him doesn't want to see the world burn sometimes, and that's about it. He doesn't think that's complicated enough to be confusing.]
[Hythlo smiles a little, patting Sagi's hand in turn.]
Mayhap we could fail to handle it together. A better dream is finding a way to handle it... But I have my doubts as to how long I shall be able to go on without breaking.
[About Hythlo, primarily. Sagi already has an answer for himself, the same one it's always been: as long as he has to, to do what he needs to, until he can go home. Hythlo... doesn't have that. He's dead.
Marno didn't have that, either. His answer ended up different: until Sagi's story is over, whenever that might be. That wouldn't be Hythlo's, obviously... but it suggests there's one to be found.
He keeps his hand on Hythlo's arm a little longer, because it seems like that's what helps them see eye to eye. Figuratively. Not that he understands why, exactly. Maybe he can't.]
If it helps, you can talk to me about it. It doesn't have to be today. I'll listen.
[He can't promise more than just listening, either. He just thinks it's only fair.]
[He'd figured Hythlo wouldn't be in the mood, but he supposes anyone loitering in the grounds near the roped-off tower has their own business to attend to, unless they're him. He lets go and sits down, arms loosely crossed over his knees.]
He felt that he had to enter them, in order to... subdue his Pokemon. Make them listen to him. The idea did not sit right with master Atsushi... nor with me, I must needs say.
[He laughs quietly.]
In the end we decided that neither of us was cut out for battling, and that mayhap 'twould be best if we chose to do something different with our companions... But that is not what I meant to talk about.
[Hythlo takes a deep breath, trying to steel himself for breaching the actual subject.]
When we talked... It seemed as though he remembered something. I know not whether it was my words that brought back the memory or aught else... Yet come it did.
[He breaks off the blade of grass, winds it around a finger. Unwinds, rewinds.]
I know not what it was he remembered, of course. But all he could do was fall to his knees. Cower. Weep. Beg for forgiveness. Promise to be better.
[The grass tears between his fingers.]
He was not talking to me. He was talking to someone else. Someone made him like this.
[Hythlo's breath is coming deeper, more measured, as though he's trying to keep himself under control.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2020-11-07 02:35 pm (UTC)Do you not pray for the safety of the living?
no subject
Date: 2020-11-07 02:46 pm (UTC)[His gaze drifts back over to the stone, and the circle marking on it. It's so weirdly ornate.]
Just not in front of graves.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-07 03:00 pm (UTC)'Tis not a grave. More... an offering, one might call it. Or waymark... 'Tis not easy to find the right word in this tongue.
[Hythlo gestures to the circle.]
The mark of the Wanderer. If... Atsushi has departed... then it would be within my domain to guide him. Yet if he lives still, 'tis Azem's task to see him back safe.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-07 03:32 pm (UTC)[That feels unexpectedly like Hythlo is about to veer into... myth stuff. It was just a couple days ago that Sagi nearly cried onto Hythlo's hospital bed, and it occurs to him now that he still doesn't really know who Hythlo is supposed to be, nor the kind of place he's from. Of course, Sagi offloading his own explanations was the point at the time, and a little distance from other people has always been normal for him... Why would it suddenly strike him as unfair, days after the fact?
Maybe it's because of the grave. Quietly, he clasps both hands to his heart. He hasn't thought of any words yet. Prayer as he knows it isn't so formal as to just hand them to him.]
no subject
Date: 2020-11-07 03:50 pm (UTC)[He falls silent as Sagi prepares to pray, though, and simply looks out to the faraway forest and the sky. Whatever it is Sagi feels needs to be said, out loud or in his heart, he's free to speak it as he will.]
no subject
Date: 2020-11-07 04:20 pm (UTC)[On that much, he sounds firm. Atsushi is alive somewhere until they find proof he's not. Sagi didn't know him well enough for the right to say otherwise.
He closes his eyes, briefly.]
May he find his way back.
[Back to them, or back home, or back into some state where he can start over and figure out how to be a little happier. It doesn't matter. That's the whole thing.
He holds his hands together only a few seconds longer before letting them drop.]
no subject
Date: 2020-11-09 07:39 am (UTC)'Tis a good sentiment. I am certain that he will not be left to travel alone.
[He looks at the stone for a little while more before turning to Sagi.]
Thank you for joining me.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-09 07:59 am (UTC)[Being thanked for it seems awkward. Maybe it's the way the marker still looks like a grave of some kind to him, even after the explanation.]
...Where did you find the stone, anyway?
no subject
Date: 2020-11-09 08:22 am (UTC)I did not. I simply made it. Marble has ever been the material of choice for us...
no subject
Date: 2020-11-09 08:32 am (UTC)Sagi sticks his hands in his pockets so that he isn't tempted to poke at the stone, see how solid it is. That would be rude.]
Is that a "domain" thing too?
no subject
Date: 2020-11-09 08:38 am (UTC)Hythlo chuckles a little, as is his wont.]
Ah, no. 'Tis an ability all of my people possess. My sight is the one thing that stands out... on all other accounts, I am quite an unremarkable man.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-09 08:51 am (UTC)[He actually smiles. He may not like it himself, but...]
It's a nice idea. It's thoughtful.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-09 09:06 am (UTC)...That, too, was no uncommon thing in my homeland. I... cannot understand the cruelty of this world. At times I think it must be simply a bad dream, yet I still wake here every day.
[He stares at the stone again, unseeing. Come to think of it, wasn't it Atsushi in whom he first saw the extent of damage humans are willing to inflict upon each other? It made him sick with terror at first; now, the feeling is more akin to confusion and deep sadness. He doesn't know if that is a good or a bad thing.]
no subject
Date: 2020-11-09 09:40 am (UTC)He's unsure whether it'll help or make things worse, but Sagi steps a little closer and, as gently as possible, puts his hand on the side of Hythlo's giant arm.]
They're rebuilding, too, and helping each other. It's not everyone.
[Then he hesitates, because the next thought he has is one of the few he doesn't tend to voice much.]
It's... a lot of people. Usually with their own reasons. Sometimes they don't even mean it. But never everyone.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-09 09:49 am (UTC)I understand. I... never meant to insinuate there is naught but evil in this world. But the cruelty that exists... I cannot comprehend it. And... I cannot help but pity those who choose the darker path, as well. 'Tis not a choice one can make out of happiness, of that I am certain.
[He looks down, trying to breathe evenly.]
Yet I could never deny that it terrifies me. Truly. Mayhap I am simply too weak.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-09 10:28 am (UTC)"Weak" isn't it. I think that's where everything else starts. Seeing what people are capable of, for what it is, and... deciding not to be that.
...That might sound like just a platitude, coming from me.
[It's a little rare for Sagi to sound overtly self-deprecating like this. Is it Sagi doing the talking right now? Well, it has to be in the absence of anyone else, so he isn't thinking about it.]
no subject
Date: 2020-11-09 01:57 pm (UTC)What do you mean? You are a good man, Sagi. I would trust that you know what you are talking about, and mean it, too.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-09 06:53 pm (UTC)I can't always handle it either, so... [A small, casual shrug with his other hand.] Who knows.
[It's mildly hypocritical for him to pretend a part of him doesn't want to see the world burn sometimes, and that's about it. He doesn't think that's complicated enough to be confusing.]
no subject
Date: 2020-11-10 06:23 am (UTC)Mayhap we could fail to handle it together. A better dream is finding a way to handle it... But I have my doubts as to how long I shall be able to go on without breaking.
[It's the self-deprecation baybey!!!]
no subject
Date: 2020-11-10 08:33 am (UTC)[About Hythlo, primarily. Sagi already has an answer for himself, the same one it's always been: as long as he has to, to do what he needs to, until he can go home. Hythlo... doesn't have that. He's dead.
Marno didn't have that, either. His answer ended up different: until Sagi's story is over, whenever that might be. That wouldn't be Hythlo's, obviously... but it suggests there's one to be found.
He keeps his hand on Hythlo's arm a little longer, because it seems like that's what helps them see eye to eye. Figuratively. Not that he understands why, exactly. Maybe he can't.]
If it helps, you can talk to me about it. It doesn't have to be today. I'll listen.
[He can't promise more than just listening, either. He just thinks it's only fair.]
no subject
Date: 2020-11-10 09:12 am (UTC)[He pats the grass next to him. Sit down, Sagi, it's time for existential sadness.]
no subject
Date: 2020-11-10 09:20 am (UTC)[He'd figured Hythlo wouldn't be in the mood, but he supposes anyone loitering in the grounds near the roped-off tower has their own business to attend to, unless they're him. He lets go and sits down, arms loosely crossed over his knees.]
no subject
Date: 2020-11-10 09:37 am (UTC)Have I ever told you about the time when I spoke with master Atsushi at the contest hall?
no subject
Date: 2020-11-10 09:42 am (UTC)I don't think so. I didn't know he was interested in them.
[Not that he knows anything about Pokemon contests, but the name alone suggests they wouldn't be ideal for someone so... anxious.]
no subject
Date: 2020-11-10 10:24 am (UTC)[He laughs quietly.]
In the end we decided that neither of us was cut out for battling, and that mayhap 'twould be best if we chose to do something different with our companions... But that is not what I meant to talk about.
[Hythlo takes a deep breath, trying to steel himself for breaching the actual subject.]
When we talked... It seemed as though he remembered something. I know not whether it was my words that brought back the memory or aught else... Yet come it did.
[He breaks off the blade of grass, winds it around a finger. Unwinds, rewinds.]
I know not what it was he remembered, of course. But all he could do was fall to his knees. Cower. Weep. Beg for forgiveness. Promise to be better.
[The grass tears between his fingers.]
He was not talking to me. He was talking to someone else. Someone made him like this.
[Hythlo's breath is coming deeper, more measured, as though he's trying to keep himself under control.]
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From: