text 💎 un: Tohsaka Rin

[defenceless]

[shortly after the storm clears on may 11th and the network connection between both sides of the group is reestablished, the following post appears:]

We're fine, as far as I know. I don't think anyone's dead, at least.

The storm that separated us was brought about by a Dakal named Pomarr. Some of you may remember her as our feline friend who sold her soul to Ryba—or whatever it is she did—to continue to live on after death.

She swept us to an island that looked like it was raised from the seafloor. It wasn't a vacation, but there were definitely remnants of what those big cats must have called home.

Her plan is to revive her entire race, in the same way Ryba "revived" her. As if life-or-death deals with shady goddesses aren't concerning enough, she wants to grant Ryba the power to carry out this mass revival by having her suck Nalanni dry. Pomarr understandably doesn't care much for Nalanni after she drowned everyone she loved; in fact, she showed us this in morbid detail. She's taken Nalanni. Hence, all the Nalawi losing their Gifts and all of this inconvenience we have to deal with.

Pomarr knows where Nalanni is, but she's asking us not to interfere, and she wouldn't give us the opportunity to speak with Nalanni when I requested it. For some reason, she didn't expect that we would be suffering like the Nalawi are. She's promised to try to fix that.

What do we do now, ALASTAIR? I can share anything else you want to know about our meeting with Pomarr, or Yukimura Sanada-san or Mr. Keats can, but this is most of it. We have a situation where the balance of this whole world might be upended if we sit and twiddle our thumbs.

I don't think I need to remind anyone of the potential consequences of messing with either goddess. Or a litter of zombie cats roaming free.

(( ooc: infodump for rin, yukimura, and keats' conversation with a dakal npc, for one of the plot slots! feel free to handwave your character (in either the marooned group or the left behind group) learned this info by reading the post or talking with rin/yukimura/keats/another recruit. yukimura and keats may also be replying to tags! ))

Comments

[respired]

[ He doesn't wanna hear shit from someone who doesn't even believe in magic. ]

As would leaving them alive.

[headlining]

Of course. They're both terrible, I'm not arguing with you on that. But we're trying to make it so we at least get out of here alive and leave most of these people, deer, cats, whatever, safe and sound.

[His mouth creases into a stern frown. He may not believe in magic, but he'll put that aside when lives are at stake.]

Which do you think is the lesser evil? What if by killing them, you wipe out whatever life is on this world?

[A pause.] If you did that, you'd be no better than Nalanni, you know...?

[respired]

There are no cats left. If you will review the recording that I found, Nalanni slaughtered them wholesale.

Something is rotten with this world. We were sent to uncover what.

I have.

I do not need your help or your sanction.

[headlining]

Like I said, I'm hardly the last person to deny that what Nalanni did was absolutely horrendous. It was genocide, pure and simple.

[God, he feels like he's talking to a brick wall.]

Just sit back and think for a second, will you? What do you plan to do if your stupid plan doesn't work? What will you do if your plan results in everyone else getting killed? Did you even think that far, or are you just too eager for some bloodshed?

[respired]

I have done my thinking. There is no evidence that what you suggest is true. Present it to me, and I may reconsider.

This is not about bloodshed. Mind your tone with me, human.

[headlining]

[So this is how it has to be, huh.]

[There's a long pause from Keats' end. When he speaks up, he sounds weary. He hardly wants to waste energy on this, but he must. He has to.]

I'm just saying, you have to consider all the possibilities. Not just what you imagine will happen.

[Another pause. There's the strange urge to snap back at that, say something like "I'm not...!" What? Human? What a ridiculous thought. Of course he's human.]

This is about bloodshed. I don't care if in your fantasies you forgot to factor it in, but if you decide to do this, somebody will get hurt.

[respired]

I would say the same for you. However, I am not interested in persuading you to my viewpoint. I declared my intentions, and I will follow through.

It is not 'if'. I decided it when I saw that recording. I decided it when I heard the screams.

[ Screams that, admittedly, sounded a lot like elves in his head. ]

[headlining]

It was a hasty decision, and a stupid one, to boot. You can't simply move forward based on what you feel.

[He's going to be blunt as possible if he has to.]

How are you going to kill them, anyways? With your bare hands?

[respired]

[ Forget Keats coming to beat him up, Koltira is liable to start the pain train himself. ]

Still your tongue if you want to keep it.

[headlining]

[At this point, he'd rather Koltira waste time trying to kill him rather than waste time trying to kill the gods.]

[So, all he does is smile. He's no stranger to talking smack in front of beings that could tear him apart if they desired.]

Oh? Offended by that, are we? Strange, how that gets you to react, and dooming an entire world doesn't.

Maybe you should rethink your priorities, hm? And you're still not answering my question, by the way.

[respired]

[ He draws Byfrost -- an enormous, glowing runeblade, still very much alive with some vestige of power -- from his back. He brandishes it, for the camera. ]

I am well-equipped.

And you still have presented no evidence for your position.

[headlining]

A glowing sword. That's all you got.

[He sounds very unimpressed.]

I mean, I'm sure you use it well, but will it be enough? Using that could just be like using a letter opener against a bear.

[he shakes his head.] Common sense is my evidence. These are goddesses. They are tied to the world. Therefore, you kill both, and what happens to the world their powers governed over? I mean, we're talking two plus two equals four logic over here, it's not rocket science.

[respired]

The old gods of Azeroth were also tied to our planet. As a parasite burrows into the skin.

Given the actions of these gods with regard to their world, your evidence remains insufficient.

Byfrost is a vampiric runeblade. I will not deign to explain it to someone with such a slow mind. Rest assured, it will do.

[headlining]

Come on, this isn't as simple as popping a tick, for crying out loud. Even when removing a parasite, there's always the risk that you'll get an infection or the host is too weak to survive without it.

[He frowns at the insult, but doesn't deign to give it a reply. Instead, he just lets out a sigh.]

It's your funeral, you know.

[respired]

[ He shrugs. ]

I've had one before. Perhaps I am due for another.