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Post by Danny on Jul 8, 2009 15:25:37 GMT 1
Leaving Yvonne's house, Danny took Tristain through the streets of Berlin, heading roughly North. It was getting late in the afternoon, and the town was starting to settle into a quiet weekend.
"How much do you know about us?" he asked. "About the world we live in?"
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Tristain
Cub
"Monsters are as Monsters do. Am I a Monster?"
Posts: 170
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Post by Tristain on Jul 8, 2009 15:32:19 GMT 1
Tristain walks along with him, not meeting the elder Garou's eyes, but watching his surroundings like he's expecting a Spiral to jump out from every corner. Which isn't too far from the truth.
"I know their version. Well, their version without you lot featuring in it. The Triat, Gaia, all that. Way they tell it the Wyrm's not bad, but seeing the shit they do in His name... I kinda asked Anna a bit, but we didn't get very far. What is your version of it? Where do you fit in?" He seems to be relaxing around Danny a bit now. The line of questions seems to suggest he's not planning on slitting Tristain's throat at this ash tree, which helps.
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Post by Danny on Jul 8, 2009 15:49:49 GMT 1
Danny smiled as it occurred to him that this was the fourth time he was answering this question since he arrived in Berlin. Each of the cubs had reacted differently to the answer. Lorelei had shuddered with fear and disbelief, Torsten had nodded and accepted his purpose without question, and Anna had somehow known all along.
"A long time ago, we and the Spirals used to be one," Danny began. "We were created to be the best of wolves of men. We were Gaia's defenders. The protectors of Mother Earth against corruption, greed, destruction... against the Wyrm who embodies them. And as we defend Gaia, we defend all aspects of Gaia, the physical, and the spiritual, man and beast. All are of Gaia. The Black Spiral Dancers reject this purpose. They believe in freeing the Wyrm, and in order to free the Wyrm, they must strengthen it." This was the part Tristain already knew, but Danny felt he needed to hear it from their side. "So they set out into the world to destroy and defile, to cause pain and misery, and in turn feed the Wyrm. But you know this already. You understand what we are fighting more than most. We don't stand a chance of stopping it. But we can hold it off as much as possible. To stand idly by and do nothing is as bad as taking part in their crimes."
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Tristain
Cub
"Monsters are as Monsters do. Am I a Monster?"
Posts: 170
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Post by Tristain on Jul 8, 2009 15:59:26 GMT 1
"No, it's not." Tristain mutters to himself at Danny's closing remark.
"So... you are closest to the Weaver?" Preserving Gaia in her mysery, in her pain. That was what Jess had described the Weaver as doing. The Wyrm would grant her the freedom of death, but then why all the suffering? It had made sense at the time, somehow, but now...
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Post by Danny on Jul 8, 2009 16:13:09 GMT 1
"Not at all," Danny said. "After all, it was the Weaver who spun the Wyrm in its web, driving it to madness, and to seek its insane revenge out on creation. The Weaver alone would drive the world to stagnation, the Wyld would plunge it into chaos. And it is our duty to keep the balance."
Some of us just disagree what that balance is.
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Tristain
Cub
"Monsters are as Monsters do. Am I a Monster?"
Posts: 170
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Post by Tristain on Jul 8, 2009 16:14:58 GMT 1
Tristain looks a little confused. "If you're out for balance, why is the Wyrm always the enemy? Surely it's as much a part of the deal as the other two?"
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Post by Danny on Jul 8, 2009 16:24:50 GMT 1
"Is it?" Danny looked just as confused at Tristain's line of reasoning as Tristain was at his, it seemed. "Is genocide? Is torture?" he asked. "Are all the things you did? Did they bring you balance? Or did they drive you mad with guilt and despair?"
He glanced sideways as he walked to look at Tristain. He didn't seem irritated by his question. There's nothing a teacher likes more than a curious student. "At one time, the Wyrm used to be balance. It provided harmony between the Wyld and the Weaver. But it has been driven insane, and it seeks only to destroy. It is the opposite now. It destroys what we do."
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Tristain
Cub
"Monsters are as Monsters do. Am I a Monster?"
Posts: 170
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Post by Tristain on Jul 8, 2009 16:33:26 GMT 1
Tristain falls silent. It was an answer of sorts, though not an entirely satisfying one, but he doesn't want to press the point. Sounding like he likes the Wyrm seems a bad idea right now. That and Danny was right about some things. Tristain does have a lot of guilt floating around in his head, and he looks away as it starts to rise up again.
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Post by Danny on Jul 8, 2009 16:45:19 GMT 1
Since Tristain had fallen silent, Danny decided to continue.
"The Wyrm no longer seeks balance. It seeks the destruction of everything. Not even the Spirals will deny that. In the end it is up to you to decide what is right. But it sounds to me like you've already made your choice."
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Tristain
Cub
"Monsters are as Monsters do. Am I a Monster?"
Posts: 170
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Post by Tristain on Jul 8, 2009 17:11:52 GMT 1
Tristain takes his time replying. "I... I know what isn't right. But I also know how easy it is to do things for some 'greater good'." For the first time in this conversation, he looks directly at Danny. "I'm not convinced I trust you yet. But you're fighting them, so I'll see what you're really like. Assuming you'll let me."
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Post by Danny on Jul 8, 2009 17:51:53 GMT 1
"Is it easy?" Danny asked. "It has always seemed to be very difficult to me. I never understood how people can lay aside their own morality for a 'greater good'. Those Garou who do quickly find themselves falling into the clutches of the Wyrm. You cannot act like them, without becoming one of them."
He stopped walking suddenly and stared back at Tristain. His tone changed. "I have decided to trust you. I know what you have done, I have seen the guilt in your mind, and the taint on your soul. And yet I have trusted you. You're going to have to trust me, if you want to get through what happens next."
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Tristain
Cub
"Monsters are as Monsters do. Am I a Monster?"
Posts: 170
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Post by Tristain on Jul 8, 2009 17:58:06 GMT 1
Tristain bristles at Danny's words, and stops walking, giving Danny a glare that doesn't let up when he goes on to talk about trust. "I trusted before. I trusted the one person in my life who seemed to give a shit whether or not I even lived or died. I trusted the one person who seemed to be able to give me answers. You know where that got me, and now you're asking me to trust someone I've only just met." Tristain shakes his head, and turns away from Danny.
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Post by Danny on Jul 8, 2009 18:21:32 GMT 1
"Do you think you're the only one who has been burned?" Danny asked. "Later, I will take you to the Caern, and you can meet twenty others like you. You can meet those who were left out in the forest to die. You can meet those who spent the past six months in a sterile cage, tormented by humans. You can meet those whose families have been attacked and killed because of this war. Those who have lost their eyes and limbs because they were asked to stand and fight. Every day I ask them once again to trust me. Every day they do.
We are Garou. We pick up the pieces, and we continue. If we are to let the past haunt us, it might well break out minds. If you want to spend the rest of your life refusing to trust anyone because you have been hurt before, then you will spend the rest of your life alone."
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Tristain
Cub
"Monsters are as Monsters do. Am I a Monster?"
Posts: 170
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Post by Tristain on Jul 8, 2009 19:48:15 GMT 1
Tristain doesn't have an answer for Danny. He seriously considers walking away, anger at Danny's words boiling within. But that would mean walking away from Anna, and possibly his one shot at being rid of the Guiding Light. He starts walking again in sullen silence.
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Post by Danny on Jul 8, 2009 20:42:16 GMT 1
Danny stared back at him, not with anger, but with a sort of resigned look that said this was the reality of the situation. The others would be even less forgiving. As Tristain started walking again, he followed, and started leading the way again. He kept up the silence until they reached the bus stop. Continued here
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