Zulf (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
leaveyourstarburning) wrote2012-07-30 05:22 pm
leaveyourstarburning) wrote2012-07-30 05:22 pm
004. Text/Action for Goldenrod City
[It's been a month full of crises, it seems; Zulf has been aware of the attacks, of the assaults on civilians and gyms and the Centers, and out of all of that, it's the last one that angers him most. And then there were the mutations, the illnesses, things that couldn't be fought with words or actions, leaving him feeling rather useless, all things considered.
And then had come proof that whomever had said that bad things happened in threes hadn't been wrong; the third crisis was of a far more personal nature. Zulf supposed it was selfish to allow the personal issue to cut him far more deeply than the attacks against Johto as a whole; however, he found that it was something that he couldn't help.
He allowed himself to be useless for a short while afterwards, to give himself time to recover, to not be rash; following that period, he had returned to Goldenrod City and found work immediately, among all the people that were still alive and not burnt to ashes where they stood - how long would it be before Zia could see something like this again? - and the buildings that seemed a bit too tall to be real. It was what he did when he didn't know what else to do - he threw himself into his work, whatever that may happen to be in his current location.
Today, though, he's distanced himself from all that a bit, sitting in one of the open squares near the northern side of town, close to Route 35; the park is small but nice, and he's sitting on one of the benches occupying the edge of it, in rather plain sight. There are several Pokemon playing in the grass; some are his, some aren't, but they all seem to be getting along rather well; he glances up once in a while to see what they're doing, but for the most part he seems rather content with what he's looking at, and he's rather comfortable diverting his attention back to the 'Gear, on which he's been tapping out a message to send to the network. He shifts a bit once in a while, allowing his leg to brush up against the large bag at his feet as though checking to make sure it's still there, but it's not an anxious motion, though the text itself seems to be taking a while to set up.]
For those that knew her, Zia is no longer in Johto. May she feel Mother's love and protection in our home world. She liked creatures of all sorts and enjoyed taking care of them; now that she isn't here anymore, I would like to try to do so in her stead.
My name is Zulf; the Pokemon Centers are still down, but I have good numbers of Revives and Hyper Potions. I was not affected by the mutations, but I do not fear you if you were. Should you want to avoid the public healing center in town for that reason or any other and can't afford your own healing supplies, I can be found in Goldenrod City, near the route leaving town to the north. I'm told that I dress strangely/am hard to miss, and I always have at least a Scolipede out in the area with me (her name is Hanako, she is friendly and will not try to eat you). I'll try to be there in the evenings for as long as I'm needed.
[And with that out of the way, he'll be returning to...whatever he's been doing on that bench; it appears to be playing with a few rather large skeins of string, braiding them together in what appear to be bracelets of some sort while he waits.]
And then had come proof that whomever had said that bad things happened in threes hadn't been wrong; the third crisis was of a far more personal nature. Zulf supposed it was selfish to allow the personal issue to cut him far more deeply than the attacks against Johto as a whole; however, he found that it was something that he couldn't help.
He allowed himself to be useless for a short while afterwards, to give himself time to recover, to not be rash; following that period, he had returned to Goldenrod City and found work immediately, among all the people that were still alive and not burnt to ashes where they stood - how long would it be before Zia could see something like this again? - and the buildings that seemed a bit too tall to be real. It was what he did when he didn't know what else to do - he threw himself into his work, whatever that may happen to be in his current location.
Today, though, he's distanced himself from all that a bit, sitting in one of the open squares near the northern side of town, close to Route 35; the park is small but nice, and he's sitting on one of the benches occupying the edge of it, in rather plain sight. There are several Pokemon playing in the grass; some are his, some aren't, but they all seem to be getting along rather well; he glances up once in a while to see what they're doing, but for the most part he seems rather content with what he's looking at, and he's rather comfortable diverting his attention back to the 'Gear, on which he's been tapping out a message to send to the network. He shifts a bit once in a while, allowing his leg to brush up against the large bag at his feet as though checking to make sure it's still there, but it's not an anxious motion, though the text itself seems to be taking a while to set up.]
For those that knew her, Zia is no longer in Johto. May she feel Mother's love and protection in our home world. She liked creatures of all sorts and enjoyed taking care of them; now that she isn't here anymore, I would like to try to do so in her stead.
My name is Zulf; the Pokemon Centers are still down, but I have good numbers of Revives and Hyper Potions. I was not affected by the mutations, but I do not fear you if you were. Should you want to avoid the public healing center in town for that reason or any other and can't afford your own healing supplies, I can be found in Goldenrod City, near the route leaving town to the north. I'm told that I dress strangely/am hard to miss, and I always have at least a Scolipede out in the area with me (her name is Hanako, she is friendly and will not try to eat you). I'll try to be there in the evenings for as long as I'm needed.
[And with that out of the way, he'll be returning to...whatever he's been doing on that bench; it appears to be playing with a few rather large skeins of string, braiding them together in what appear to be bracelets of some sort while he waits.]
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[There's a brief moment of mental flailing that's incredibly obvious in his expression, wide-eyed and somewhat like his entire brain has just started crying; he seems to bite it back quickly, however, his tone immediately shifting into something that's a bit...too calm and pleasant, obviously forced.]
The world we're from isn't a terribly good one. There was a lot of...destruction, recently, a lot of damage done to...our homes, and it just isn't terribly good, and Zia has a tendency to run off and I...
[He can hear his voice becoming more rapid as he speaks; he pauses for a moment, closing his eyes while he gets control over himself.]
...I just worry about her, that's all.
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[Most of the people Archer has talked to in Johto want to return home. He's spent more and more time thinking that he'd rather stay here, but at least he has something to return to. From the sound of it, Zulf doesn't even have that.]
I understand.
[There is genuine sympathy in Archer's voice there, even though his expression still doesn't quite match up. The feeling is still a bit diluted, but he genuinely does understand what Zulf is going through.]
I'm sure she'll be fine. She might even return here some day.
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[.......]
It probably makes very little sense to most people, but what happened back home...I don't think there's anything that I could have done to stop it, but I still feel like I should have been able to. Somehow.
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Correct me if I'm wrong but... you've gone over this a million times in your head, trying to find some way you could have stopped or prevented it from happening. No matter how many times you look at it you can't find a solution, but that doesn't mean there isn't one. There's nothing you can do about it now, but you feel like you should have been able to do something. Is that right?
[Another pause. Archer glances away again.]
I understand perfectly, Zulf.
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[The words are out there before he can stop them; the backpedaling is both vehement and immediate.]
You don't have to answer that; I'm sorry, it's likely personal.
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[Archer sounds relatively calm about it. The projected feeling is pain, of course, but there's quite a bit of fondness in there as well. Kimblee really has helped him come to grips with this. It's only now he's realizing that. Months ago he couldn't bring up Kimbley at all. He's not sure what to think about that.]
What happened in your world? I understand if you don't want to talk about it, but it does sound similar.
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There was an...incident that occurred a short time before I arrived in Johto. We called it The Calamity; it was a massive blast that destroyed large parts of our world. The Tazal Terminals - Ura territory, where I was born - took heavy damage, but Caelondia, the city I lived in at the time, was hit hardest; there were only four survivors. Zia and I were two of them; the other two were Caels.
The only solace that can be taken in what happened is that there was no suffering for those who were caught up in The Calamity - they died immediately, burning to death so quickly that their ashes retained their form until touched or otherwise disturbed.
But whether they suffered or not, our world has been shattered, and everyone we knew is dead. Including Zia's father, and the woman I proposed to the night before The Calamity struck.
I learned the cause behind what killed the city some time after the fact; it was something I should have been able to prevent.
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Why do you think you could have prevented it? It sounds like you had no idea it was going to happen.
[There's another pause while Archer tries to find words to express his sympathy for Zulf. He's never been any good at this.]
I'm very sorry to hear about all this, Zulf. I never would have imagined you've lived through something this horrible.
[All your friends and family, your fiancee... It's hard to imagine.]
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However resigned his tone may be, however, there's a definite anger in his eyes, a distinct sense of fury to his expression.]
The Calamity was the result of some sort of massive weapon being fired. Its original purpose was for it to be used by the Caels to destroy the Tazal Terminals and slaughter my people. It was designed many years ago, after a war between the Caels and the Ura; the project was abandoned once peace was made, but relations between our races were still tense, and worsening all the time. Eventually, work on the weapon resumed again; it was sabotaged by a scientist, one of the Ura, so that if it were to be set off it would backfire and destroy Caelondia instead, hopefully sparing the Terminals.
I've been working to bring peace to our people for most of my life. I had a large amount of influence in the Terminals; I still do, I think - some of my memories of what happened are a bit odd. I travelled to Caelondia to try to prove to them that things had changed. And in several ways, I did make a difference.
Yet the weapon still went off.
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[He's not sure what to say, and when Zulf finishes Archer finally moves to sit beside him. He hesitates for a moment longer before touching the back of Zulf's hand - it's a gesture that's trying to be reassuring and... kind of failing horribly, sorry. He doesn't know how to deal with affection like this that isn't latching onto someone. He gets the feeling that would scare poor Zulf.]
I understand how you feel. You blame yourself for all their deaths. I'm sure you've been told that it isn't your fault - that doesn't make it any easier, does it?
[Archer glances away, once again finding it awkward to look at Zulf.]
I don't believe it's your fault, Zulf. You didn't know the weapon existed, correct? Even if you had, could you have changed anything? I know it's difficult to think about, and it's even more difficult to acknowledge that you really couldn't have done anything. I understand.
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At the same time, he does understand what Archer is trying to do; he can't say that he isn't grateful for it, either. He honestly doesn't know how to give physical affection very well himself; he usually limits it to incredibly awkward touching on the shoulders or something, and he never really sustains it any longer than he has to. So in a way it's nice to know that not everyone knows how to do this, either.]
...thank you, Archer. I appreciate it.
[............]
I likely shouldn't have discussed this with you. It's not something most want to deal with.
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[Zulf's words earn a rather bemused look there, though.]
You don't need to worry about it. Like I said, I understand what it's like. I find that it's much easier to deal with things like this after I've discussed them with someone. You might not be the same way, but there's no reason for you to worry about that. I don't mind dealing with it.
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You've been very kind to me, Archer. I'm glad we got this chance to talk again.
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I do what I can.
[Archer still can't manage a proper smile, but he's trying!]
I'm glad as well. I'm sure everything will work out for you, Zulf.
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...orz...]
It will. I'm going to try to stay here as long as possible; if that isn't what Mother has decided will come to pass, then I have Zia and the others to return to. Either way, I'll be fine.
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