"You’ve got a way to keep me on your side
Mar. 9th, 2009 06:17 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
wraithwitch.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
zg_shadowsYou give me cause for love that I can’t hide
For you I know I’d even try to turn the tide
Because you’re mine, I walk the line..."
Ash had sat, running the curve of her claws across her lips, pressing the edge of the silver against her skin to remind herself not to get angry, not to say anything stupid. In the end however, it hadn’t helped.
Scythe had been as unpleasantly arsey as he could manage all afternoon and she had ignored him, or accepted his insults with a tight, sour little smile. There was nothing she could say to him, and so she said nothing. At last Tolly and De Xue had sat them down and politely requested they settle their differences.
Scythe ranted about things that had happened in his past, about someone called the Pearly Lady who made a deal with a demon and how he’d gone to Flux to stop being damned by association. And what was Ash doing? Marrying the King of Hell.
Elathan Neith Tannasg Rhi, she’d corrected silently. He wasn’t the king of hell, although she didn’t imagine there was anyone other than her who cared about the difference.
And then he’d glared at her from under his hat, demanding she give him some kind of answer. She wasn’t aware that his words had been a question. She said the only thing she could say, the only thing there was to say. “I’m not Corrupt - an' I ain’t gonna be corrupted if I can help it - an' I’ve got my own damn reasons f’doin’ all o’this.”
She had spoken to a lot of people about her relationship with Rkleish and as far as she could tell there were only two answers that were acceptable. Some believed what she had just told Scythe, trusting that she was both strong and sane enough to keep her word. But others required one answer and one answer only. ‘Don’t worry darlin’, Selene herself is keeping my mind an’ heart safe from harm – I’m only with him so I can stick my claws through his eyes and rip off his head at the right moment.’ So far they were the ones to be disappointed.
Scythe continued to rant at her. Rkleish had invaded everybody’s mind, had lied, had been a bastard of epic proportions...
"Yeah," she agreed. "Fine. But y’know what? He told everyone exactly what he was doin’ before he did it. ‘This will open your minds t’each other,’ he said. He didn't say pack link or telepathy or call it anythin' it wasn't. No one batted an eye. An’ dear heaven don’t claim that if you were in his place you wouldn’t have done somethin' similar, ‘cause you’re a bastard an’ all, an’ I know you would have." It seemed to her that Scythe’s main issue was that Rkleish was simply a bigger and better bastard than he was.
“What if I tear out his heart, hey, Ash?” Scythe announced. “Put his heart on a plate - what would you do then?”
She stared at him and said nothing. A month back her answer would have been an unhappy shrug as she felt her loyalties pulled in different directions. Would she defend Rkleish because of her promise to him, or stand with her Sentai because of her oath to them?
But now, sitting next to Scythe as he radiated a hatred that touched on madness she knew without question what she’d do. She’d fall into that implacable chasm of fury at the back of her brain and she’d tear the Lunar into shreds – however long it took and whatever the cost. The Tannasg Rhi was hers.
“He wiped out my tribe! How about I kill something of yours,” he said, less of a suggestion more of a promise. “See how you like it?”
“You already have,” she told him quietly.
He blinked, surprise eroding the edges of his anger.
“When the Ratkin rose t’follow you an' blow the world t’bits... Yuki died because o’that. He was guardin’ a shrine an' the Nezumi killed him.” Her words were soft and bitter. She could see snowflakes fall out of the corner of her eye; some of them landed on Scythe’s hat brim and melted into drops of blood.
His brows lowered into a frown. “What? Oh, that bloke you left so you could be with Rkleish?” His words held a measure of contempt.
She pressed the silver of her claws harder against her lip wanting nothing more than to punch Scythe in the face. Just like that he had dismissed Yuki’s death and her sorrow as something meaningless because now she was married to the Tannasg Rhi. Dear gods she longed to scream at him. He’d never followed rules in his life never cared a damn what the consequences of his actions might be so long as they weren’t detrimental to him. The idea of choosing to do something not because you wished it for yourself but because your elders demanded it or because it was for the greater good was so incomprehensible to him he had yet to consider that was why she’d done it.
That, she supposed, was what made her most heartsick. Everybody demanding explanations from her, few bothering to actually consider the situation she’d found herself in. Everybody snarling or looking flat-out horrified because she’d got hitched to the Ex Rank Nine Legendry Lord of the Spirals (now questionable Child of Helios) the Ghost King of Mile Deep.
By Ash’s reckoning they were looking at the whole situation backwards, as usual. They fretted and panicked - was he still corrupt? Was she corrupted or just enslaved since she’d said yes? What was his plan – what would he do?
What amazed her was that not a single one of them was terrified at the thought of what he would have done – what he would have become - had she said ‘no’.
=====
It had been inevitable, since Scythe could not and would not trust her nor reign in his desire to eviscerate her husband. So. The Circle was broken, the Sentai disbanded.
Ashnemain closed her eyes. There was no longer anything pinning her here – if she was honest she had no idea why she’d remained all afternoon. She’d meant to speak to Michael about the Red Star, about the Celestine Prophecies, about Rkleish’s request, about her own desperate need for knowledge. But Michael had been absent, appearing to speak with people only briefly before leaving again, which made her journey somewhat wasted.
She had never been a member of the Sept, despite the years she’d stayed, and out of all the room she could only truly count three people who were happy to talk to her. The thought of the East still made her tense enough to retch; she couldn’t bring herself to return to the House of the Silver Lotus. Which – somewhat ironically - left Mile Deep as the only place she could currently call home.
As if hearing echoes of her thoughts Tolly walked over and hugged her. “I have a boon to ask of you, sister.”
She sighed, allowing him to wrap an arm lightly round her waist. “What’s that?”
He nuzzled at her head. “Leave a little of yourself here, for us. Don’t let it become just about him.”
She smiled ruefully. Trust Tolly to know she was mentally spitting nails over a tunnelful of Southern hillbilly Spirals she’d babysat for being more fond of her than the Sept she’d served for years. “I’ll see what I can do,” she said, a vague promise with no guarantee.
“I care for you, sister,” he told her, hugging her tighter.
She made a small grumbling noise in her throat signaling she thought he was an idiot for doing so but she liked him anyway. At least Tolly wouldn’t have to worry about his loyalty to the Sentai versus his fondness for her anymore. The Sentai was disbanded, he could stand at whoever’s side he chose or look away and choose no side at all.
Her mouth narrowed into a blanched line. If only walking away from sorrow left trouble so easily behind.
She wondered how long it would be before Scythe came to kill Rkleish.
And she wondered who he’d bring with him.
For you I know I’d even try to turn the tide
Because you’re mine, I walk the line..."
Ash had sat, running the curve of her claws across her lips, pressing the edge of the silver against her skin to remind herself not to get angry, not to say anything stupid. In the end however, it hadn’t helped.
Scythe had been as unpleasantly arsey as he could manage all afternoon and she had ignored him, or accepted his insults with a tight, sour little smile. There was nothing she could say to him, and so she said nothing. At last Tolly and De Xue had sat them down and politely requested they settle their differences.
Scythe ranted about things that had happened in his past, about someone called the Pearly Lady who made a deal with a demon and how he’d gone to Flux to stop being damned by association. And what was Ash doing? Marrying the King of Hell.
Elathan Neith Tannasg Rhi, she’d corrected silently. He wasn’t the king of hell, although she didn’t imagine there was anyone other than her who cared about the difference.
And then he’d glared at her from under his hat, demanding she give him some kind of answer. She wasn’t aware that his words had been a question. She said the only thing she could say, the only thing there was to say. “I’m not Corrupt - an' I ain’t gonna be corrupted if I can help it - an' I’ve got my own damn reasons f’doin’ all o’this.”
She had spoken to a lot of people about her relationship with Rkleish and as far as she could tell there were only two answers that were acceptable. Some believed what she had just told Scythe, trusting that she was both strong and sane enough to keep her word. But others required one answer and one answer only. ‘Don’t worry darlin’, Selene herself is keeping my mind an’ heart safe from harm – I’m only with him so I can stick my claws through his eyes and rip off his head at the right moment.’ So far they were the ones to be disappointed.
Scythe continued to rant at her. Rkleish had invaded everybody’s mind, had lied, had been a bastard of epic proportions...
"Yeah," she agreed. "Fine. But y’know what? He told everyone exactly what he was doin’ before he did it. ‘This will open your minds t’each other,’ he said. He didn't say pack link or telepathy or call it anythin' it wasn't. No one batted an eye. An’ dear heaven don’t claim that if you were in his place you wouldn’t have done somethin' similar, ‘cause you’re a bastard an’ all, an’ I know you would have." It seemed to her that Scythe’s main issue was that Rkleish was simply a bigger and better bastard than he was.
“What if I tear out his heart, hey, Ash?” Scythe announced. “Put his heart on a plate - what would you do then?”
She stared at him and said nothing. A month back her answer would have been an unhappy shrug as she felt her loyalties pulled in different directions. Would she defend Rkleish because of her promise to him, or stand with her Sentai because of her oath to them?
But now, sitting next to Scythe as he radiated a hatred that touched on madness she knew without question what she’d do. She’d fall into that implacable chasm of fury at the back of her brain and she’d tear the Lunar into shreds – however long it took and whatever the cost. The Tannasg Rhi was hers.
“He wiped out my tribe! How about I kill something of yours,” he said, less of a suggestion more of a promise. “See how you like it?”
“You already have,” she told him quietly.
He blinked, surprise eroding the edges of his anger.
“When the Ratkin rose t’follow you an' blow the world t’bits... Yuki died because o’that. He was guardin’ a shrine an' the Nezumi killed him.” Her words were soft and bitter. She could see snowflakes fall out of the corner of her eye; some of them landed on Scythe’s hat brim and melted into drops of blood.
His brows lowered into a frown. “What? Oh, that bloke you left so you could be with Rkleish?” His words held a measure of contempt.
She pressed the silver of her claws harder against her lip wanting nothing more than to punch Scythe in the face. Just like that he had dismissed Yuki’s death and her sorrow as something meaningless because now she was married to the Tannasg Rhi. Dear gods she longed to scream at him. He’d never followed rules in his life never cared a damn what the consequences of his actions might be so long as they weren’t detrimental to him. The idea of choosing to do something not because you wished it for yourself but because your elders demanded it or because it was for the greater good was so incomprehensible to him he had yet to consider that was why she’d done it.
That, she supposed, was what made her most heartsick. Everybody demanding explanations from her, few bothering to actually consider the situation she’d found herself in. Everybody snarling or looking flat-out horrified because she’d got hitched to the Ex Rank Nine Legendry Lord of the Spirals (now questionable Child of Helios) the Ghost King of Mile Deep.
By Ash’s reckoning they were looking at the whole situation backwards, as usual. They fretted and panicked - was he still corrupt? Was she corrupted or just enslaved since she’d said yes? What was his plan – what would he do?
What amazed her was that not a single one of them was terrified at the thought of what he would have done – what he would have become - had she said ‘no’.
=====
It had been inevitable, since Scythe could not and would not trust her nor reign in his desire to eviscerate her husband. So. The Circle was broken, the Sentai disbanded.
Ashnemain closed her eyes. There was no longer anything pinning her here – if she was honest she had no idea why she’d remained all afternoon. She’d meant to speak to Michael about the Red Star, about the Celestine Prophecies, about Rkleish’s request, about her own desperate need for knowledge. But Michael had been absent, appearing to speak with people only briefly before leaving again, which made her journey somewhat wasted.
She had never been a member of the Sept, despite the years she’d stayed, and out of all the room she could only truly count three people who were happy to talk to her. The thought of the East still made her tense enough to retch; she couldn’t bring herself to return to the House of the Silver Lotus. Which – somewhat ironically - left Mile Deep as the only place she could currently call home.
As if hearing echoes of her thoughts Tolly walked over and hugged her. “I have a boon to ask of you, sister.”
She sighed, allowing him to wrap an arm lightly round her waist. “What’s that?”
He nuzzled at her head. “Leave a little of yourself here, for us. Don’t let it become just about him.”
She smiled ruefully. Trust Tolly to know she was mentally spitting nails over a tunnelful of Southern hillbilly Spirals she’d babysat for being more fond of her than the Sept she’d served for years. “I’ll see what I can do,” she said, a vague promise with no guarantee.
“I care for you, sister,” he told her, hugging her tighter.
She made a small grumbling noise in her throat signaling she thought he was an idiot for doing so but she liked him anyway. At least Tolly wouldn’t have to worry about his loyalty to the Sentai versus his fondness for her anymore. The Sentai was disbanded, he could stand at whoever’s side he chose or look away and choose no side at all.
Her mouth narrowed into a blanched line. If only walking away from sorrow left trouble so easily behind.
She wondered how long it would be before Scythe came to kill Rkleish.
And she wondered who he’d bring with him.
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no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 12:25 am (UTC)Bets?
Sulien just doesn't see how that precludes stabbing him at the first opportunity*. Though there's at least a couple of rather vital pieces of information that I know she's missing.
*No. She never regards love as sufficient reason. For anything.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 01:04 am (UTC)Ash's reasons for being with and not stabbing Rkleish are many and complex. One of the simpler ones however is: he was a Rank 9 Theurge, he knows all kinds of important stuff the rest of the garou don't. Also there's a one-in-three chance that killing him might actually end the world. Lalala.
Of course the main downside with not stabbing him is that he's an uber bastard =P
no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 07:49 am (UTC)...that would be the main piece of vital information that Suli's missing, yes :)