Topic: Once more unto the breach, dear friends...once more.

All is Fair

Date: 2011-04-05 20:47 EST
I was blown away What could I say" It all seemed to make sense You've taken away everything And I can't deal with that I try to see the good in life But good things in life are hard to find We'll blow it away, blow it away Can we make this something good"

How many worlds is this, now"

And drawn to it just like all the rest.

All those things he knows best, he can feel at his core, all happening here.

Strife. Conflict. Passion. Battles have been fought here, great battles all can see as well as constant, smaller struggles that all but escape notice of any kind.

And so much more. This is a place of magic, even moreso than that long ago lonely mountain where some of his brethren sit still, confident in their supposed superiority.

Let them rot there. Without new experiences, struggles and adventures, all you do it stay still, never evolving.

And stagnation leads to death. This is something he knew even when he sat among his kind, before he grew restless and began to wander.

There is only one he has missed.

Well, I'll try to do it right this time around Let's start over I'll try to do it right this time around It's not over 'Cause a part of me is dead and in the ground This love is killing me But you're the only one It's not over

Comrade. Sister. Lover. A warrior, like him.

But where he had been the passion, the fire, wading in and laying waste, she had been the cooler head.

The temper of his steel, the direction to his might. The wisdom and thought that guided even the mighty embodiment of bloody conflict.

Their kind were given to philandering, it is true. When you are of a kind that cannot die, such distractions are easy to fall into.

But there had always been one he returned to. One he could not resist.

And if not for his own restlessness, his own nature, he might have stayed there.

Taken all I could take And I cannot wait We're wasting too much time Being strong, holding on Can't let it bring us down My life with you means everything So I won't give up that easily I'll blow it away, blow it away Can we make this something good" 'Cause it's all misunderstood

But she had not been as restless as he. Not then. And despite that pull, he could not be a traitor to his own nature.

She had understood...even if she had not been happy.

And so he had left.

For so long, he believed she would stay on that lonely mountain.

It was not until ages later that he felt her again.

Following.

So unlike her - she had always been the one to lead, never to follow. He had been the spear, she the warrior who directed that spear to the right place.

And now he is guiding her...or at the least leading the way.

But then, he can feel, not all is as it was.

Well, I'll try to do it right this time around Let's start over I'll try to do it right this time around It's not over 'Cause a part of me is dead and in the ground This love is killing me But you're the only one It's not over

We can't let this get away Let it out, let it out Don't get caught up in yourself Let it out

Something is different about her, yes. The warrior is still there.

But buried beneath something else.

Just like all the other times.

Should he let her catch him this time? This silly game has gone on long enough - they've been circling each other, feint and dodge.

Part of it, he knows, is because she was always better at this game than he.

But for once, he has the upper hand.

Let's start over I'll try to do it right this time around It's not over 'Cause a part of me is dead and in the ground This love is killing me But you're the only one It's not over

Let's start over It's not over, yeah This love is killing me But you're the only one It's not over

He's known that they would finally come to this. Since that first time he felt her following, he knew.

She had been his guide so many times.

Perhaps now he can be hers.

The top of the mountain is lonely, desolate. From its peak, though, he can see far away to the horizon in all directions. The frigid wind that blows past him goes unnoticed - his is and always has been of fire in the blood, and cold has never touched his heart.

The softly spoken, deep timbre of his voice carries beyond the wind, above its unholy howl.

"I've been waiting for you."

All is Fair

Date: 2011-04-07 22:26 EST
(http://www.youtube.com/watch"v=Dp2mH9nrz60 and http://www.youtube.com/watch"v=Lx58hXh4pVA)

Southern Glen

Words like violence Break the silence Come crashing in Into my little world Painful to me Pierce right through me Can't you understand Oh my little girl

A walk in the woods is often all it takes to clear his head. That lingering fog, the 'reset button' he'd once jokingly referred to. This time is no different.

Standing there, on that mountaintop, had been so...familiar. Some things you lose, some things you keep: that's always the way it goes. The universe wastes nothing, in the end - everything goes in cycles, and if one figures out the design, it's a simple thing to exercise a bit of influence over it.

He knew he had been heard. He had wanted to be heard. Hide-and-go-seek was a game for children, one the two of them had for all intents and purposes invented, albeit on a far grander scale.

Now he's playing hide and seek of a different kind.

Oh, sure, he's big. Brawny, built like a brick sh*thouse, put it whichever way you want. A paragon of masculinity, few among the gods and even fewer men in all of history could claim to be as mighty as he, and of those only two could match him in battle.

One of those, their father.

The other, a woman.

She enters his thoughts just as his would-be attacker comes barreling out of the wood, an overlarge, angry brown bear, three times again his size, clearly upset about his proximity to its den or perhaps an unseen pair of cubs. Or - even better - it's hungry.

Perfect.

She would recognize the sudden, cheerful, reckless smile that splits his features, the sudden glaring ruby light visible in the depths of his eyes.

As the grizzly closes on him, he leans into a lunging charge, resembling nothing so much as a quarterback rushing headlong at a linebacker in a suicidal last ditch play.

The bear, it seems, is taken aback by this crazed charge - clearly, it's not used to food turning the tables on it this way, and for a second it hesitates. Hunger is what wins out, and its will make a good meal for the cubs just hidden in the shadows of the wood.

The she-bear rears up just as the man is within reach and brings paws tipped with long, knifelike claws down towards this strange man-thing, trying to slice through his torso.

All I ever wanted All I ever needed Is here in my arms Words are very unnecessary They can only do harm

He reaches up just as the paws are closing on his head. Large, strong hands seize furred forelimbs and bring them to a standstill with a suddenness that makes the bear scream out a bestial roar of mingled pain, anger and frustration.

"I'm coming, just' wait for me."

Finally...after so long...he knows her voice as surely as he knows his mother's, no matter how soft.

His heart leaps and the bear lunges with its head in the same moment, sensing its prey's distraction. He just has time to realize his error as the bear's jaws are about to close on his neck, its weight about to crush him.

Vows are spoken To be broken Feelings are intense Words are trivial Pleasures remain So does the pain Words are meaningless And forgettable

There is no question. She is here. There is something more than stupid games to be played here, indeed.

Therefore, this game is over.

The grizzly is just about to snap its jaws closed on this chunk of meat's head when it finds that it is unable to - its jaws are frozen, seized by some force.

There is just enough time for the animal's brain to begin to react to this odd problem, for the awareness to begin dawning in its eyes.

And then Arthur pushes the jaws apart with all of his strength, one hand for each side, upper and lower.

There is a sudden and sickening CRACK! that echoes across the clearing and into the trees, followed by a softer series of crunching sounds as he twists the head to cut off the final roar before it can begin, breaking its neck.

All I ever wanted All I ever needed Is here in my arms Words are very unnecessary They can only do harm

With a sigh he pushes the animal away, a regretful look on his face. It was his own fault, his own distraction that had led to this...waste.

Standing, he moves to kneel next to the bear, placing a hand against its still-warm side. There is no heartbeat, and even if there were, it would have been its last.

"I am...so very sorry, my friend. It is my fault that it came to this...I had only meant a bit of play."

Sadly, there is no more that he can do.

His hands deal out death.

They can't take it back.

All is Fair

Date: 2011-04-13 18:29 EST
He'd left the bear's body where it had fallen.

The cubs...he hadn't the heart to abandon them. Not when their mother's death was so clearly his fault, his error. Old enough to eat solid food but still too young yet to survive on their own, he had vowed on their mother's cooling body that he would be their benefactor.

If only she could see him now, she might actually laugh. The Warrior of warriors, the feud incarnate.

Caring for cubs.

Now, as he's leaving them sated and sleeping, he moves out of the wood and into the day's crimson-gold dying light.

And suddenly, he feels he's not alone.

He can feel a darker shadow, stalking him. Brimstone and fire mark its trail, blood and lost hopes, dashed dreams. Stepping from shadows into the last dying light of day, he turns and regards the wood, crossing brawny arms over his broad chest.

"Hello, Uncle. It's been some time, long and ages past since I have seen your face. Come into the last light of day, that we may speak as friends."

The form that emerges from the wood is an interesting contrast to him - where he is of only slightly more than average height (which he does to blend in more than anything else), deeply tanned of skin and brawny of build, wearing little more than a pair of pants, the dark figure approaching is tall, lean and pale, wrapped in the shadows of a flowing cloak that billows around and behind him like smoke. His voice is oily and wheezing as he speaks, and yet carries with it a certain malicious nobility.

"Nephew. It has been ages and ages again, has it not' And here I find you, caring for the cubs of a vanquished foe." The dark figure snorts, looking at him with a sneer of contempt. "How small you've become."

In another day and age, the warrior would not have let such an insult stand.

But much has changed.

Instead, he shakes his head, his hands remaining relaxed. "Never have you had anything nice to say, Uncle."

That gets a contemptuous laugh from the dark, towering figure. "What might you expect, Nephew" Most of your brethren still reside where they ought, not mucking about here in the mud with these...mortals." The word comes out as if it has a bitter taste, and as if to demonstrate this the dark figure turns his head to the side and spits on the ground. A sizzling sound and a puff of acrid smoke rise up from where it hits.

He sighs again, shaking his head as he looks up at the dark shape. "These mortals have taught me much, Uncle. They appreciate their lives in a way that most of us do not...probably because they don't have much of it." He eyes his uncle, a slight grin tugging at his features. "I would have thought you, more than the others, might have understood that."

The dark man glares at his nephew, black eyes flashing red for an instant. "They are vermin that don't even appreciate the gift given them."

Ooooh...touched a nerve there, did he" His grin widens slightly as he arches an eyebrow. "If you believe such, what brings you down to the mud with the mortals?"

The glare from his uncle intensifies for a moment, then softens as he turns away, murmuring something.

"Just a moment, Uncle. Did I hear that right?"

The dark figure wheels in place, rounding on his nephew with an infuriated look. "My SON! My son brings me here, Nephew." That voice is a horrible screeching growl that sends birds flying into the air from the trees.

He can't help it - the laughter comes pouring out of him like a river, so much that he's forced to grab his sides as the force of it bends him over before he gets control. "You...of all of us...you...had a son...with a mortal"" The words come out breathlessly as he keeps chuckling.

The dark figure growls at him in warning. "Yes. I did. And now he's here, and I require someone to...keep watch over him." Those words come out with more than a bad taste - it actually looks like it's painful for the dark figure to say. As his nephew starts to laugh again, he yells.

"STOP LAUGHING!"

It's not a growling screech, this time - this time it's the voice of a god, rich and thunderous. Still, it takes Arthur a moment to get himself under control. "Apologies, Uncle...it's just that...you with a mortal..."

"Say one more word and I will summon your Father to come and get you."

That shuts him up. "Still no sense of humor. You wish me to watch over your son, then?"

The dark figure nods. "A warning, Nephew. Jacen is most assuredly my child, in nearly all respects. Guard him well and vigilantly, but try to be discreet or he'll make it far more trouble than you might imagine."

At this he has to turn away, or risk laughing in his Uncle's face again. How odd it is to hear this man, of all of them, talking as if he is a concerned father! Working up his control again, he turns back towards his uncle. "So I'm guessing you do not wish me to deliver a message to your son from you..."

...and finds that he's speaking to himself.

Shaking his head, he looks up towards the sky, sighing softly. "Fantastic. I am to be a babysitter to a mischievous, malicious demigod."