[i NEVER SAiD]

[Vox]

Twilight...

She had strong opinions. That was good, for Truth. If she was a lamb he would have nothing to discuss with her. But she had her own mind, her own ideas and her own way of doing things. He didn't need to agree, nor did these ways need to work. " I understand you have your ways, Asaki, but how are they workin' for ya babe? You don't look very happy to me. I would change them if I were you. " Was what his mind told him to say, but his face was as blank as always and he took his time responding. Was she calling him dogmatic? Or didactic? Or a little bit of both? The last option seemed most likely. A musing expression overtook his empty gaze and he stared unseeingly up at the sun which had started to go down. It was no longer high noon, but Truth didn't feel very tired. Nor did he feel energetic. It was the sort of mood that creates insomnia, and yet not restlessness. Quite unbearable, but very good for debating. Asaki thought him annoyingly persistent and possibly easily led. She was quick to assume things, which made her a very witty, if not particularly philosophical.

I thought I had already said that I don't believe in things just because everybody else does. I'm not going to give up my cause just because at the moment, nobody wants to hear the truth. Truth is powerful enough to not need belief. Lies need belief to fuel them, they die if nobody believes. If nobody believes the truth, it will wait until they do. It will show them, it will make them see. It takes much less effort to accept the truth, than to create a lie. And you don't get in trouble if somebody finds out about it.

He smiled patiently, and knowingly after he finished. It was natural that she should ask such a question, in fact he would be surprised if she had not asked it. Asaki was not really inquisitive, at least he didn't think she was. But she did ask rather a lot of questions.

For a person who asks a lot of questions, you don't seem to want many answers. We should have called you Rhetoric, not Asaki.

A dry chuckle accompanied his words and his tone was rippling with silent laughter and amusement. Yet not evident enough for her to be offended. Just enough for an extremely observant person to notice it. His whiskers twitched and his tail made a pattern on the sand, like a snake in it's last throws of death. The sun was a little lower, but other than that there was nothing different about this place. It calmed Truth, the smell of the salty air. He had been born by the sea. His mother, Calypso, was said to be the daughter of the goddess of the sea. Cali, her pet name, was brought back by her father, Kalim [or Kilim, as he is known in these southern lands], when she was just a babe. She had been given an adopted mother, but never grew very close. She was a free spirited lass and was always wandering. Hot-headed and with a terrible rage, she was as treacherous as the sea. And just as beautiful. Just as graceful and as fluid and savage. Calypso had been a dangerous opponent but one day she had disappeared. They had last seen her by the sea. Truth was the only one that had been there, but I don't think you're ready for that story yet. He had never told his haunting past to anyone, because he didn't really care about it anymore. And the more he thought of it, the worse his dreams got. The salty air calmed him, it reminded him of his mother. Of how she used to always be kind to him and listen to what he had to say. Flicking his ears forward, to catch the noises of the distant waves, Truth let a tiny smile flicker on his lips and then die. He heard her story and almost laughed, but found he really didn't have the energy nor the conviction to create a noise so loud. If that was all she was going to tell him, then so be it. He could respect the fact she wanted him to leave. Turning his piercing, steel gray eyes onto her he eyed the lioness.

It is funny...It is funny that whenever I find bitterness somewhere, I hear that same story. That same story is echoed back at me, and I've come to think that some of the tellers are not being entirely truthful. The same happened to my sister, minus that part about killing out parents. I did that.

His voice was hard, yet at the same time light and casual. The twinkle had come back to his eyes and he gave her a genuine example of the kind of smile he usually sported. It was benevolent and laughter lines creased his golden face. She had seen it before, obviously, but this time there was that hard edge to it. Fierce, and formidable. Not many people can be benign and fierce at the same time, Truth was one of them. He ignored her jibing comment, he knew she was doing it because she was trying to rile him, yet again. " It gets old fast, lassie. Very fast indeed... " A yawn split his face, and he felt his backside go cold. The earth was not as warm as it used to be. He wanted to find a nice place to kip up in for the night. Away from Asaki. And yet, she spoke again and it caught him by surprise. He had not expected her to ask him something like that, in that tone. It was evident she was trying on a more delicate tone, and although he was a little shocked by it, he admitted it was nicer that a constant grate on his ears like her normal tone was. Stretching his legs a little, Truth stared at a spot a little to the left of Asaki pensively. Which did he like more? What was the last thing his mother had told him before she had gone...? " Truth...You are the sun in this world. You must lead your Pride well, they will look up to you. Shine light on all those around you, even those you don't like. Shine the Truth through all the cobwebs of lies and you can melt them. You will win this battle, my son. I know it. " And then she had left. He had followed her advice to the best of his ability, though he thought it was a little ridiculous. He had moved from the northeast, to the southwest [these lands lie southwest of Truth's home] and started a Pride. He had done everything, and this was part of it. Dawn or Dusk?

I like the Dawn because of it's brilliance, it's innocence and it's energy...But the Dusk is more dependable and the darkness welcomes me to sleep at the end of each day. I should say...Twilight. The Twilight between Dawn and Noon and the Twilight between Noon and Dusk.

He knew he had not exactly answered her question, but it was because he believed that when life gave you two options, you made up a third. Dawn had been his favorite as a child, and he had become Narati's mate because of her shadowiness. It tempered him. When she died, he had become shadowy and looked upon Aamira as a more suitable mate. But now...Now he like Twilight, because it was somewhere in between. He didn't know anybody who was of the Twilight. Truth looked around him, and realized that it was twilight. Smiling in a pleased manner he watched the sun go behind some clouds and reappear slowly. He loved the silver sheen of it. In the morning, the sun was cold. The sun was cold and intimidating and he liked that about it. He liked how it cut through the clouds and the way the light when platinum. The glare was bad, but it was worth it. Truth had yet to meet a twilight lioness...Maybe he never would. If he didn't, then he would have to be content with Twilight. The time when darkness meets light and when cold meets warm.

[/blockquote]

...Where Are You?

[Valid]

ASAKi THE TRAGiC

[/size]
LETS TRY LiViNG TODAY
LiKE iT WASNT A MiSTAKE [/center]

“If you prefer my name Rhetoric, then I prefer yours Irrational.” She said. Shaking her head but divvying up but a shrug to his… reply to Truth. Perhaps it was the answer to be expected, and the answer everyone knew deep down that was ‘right’ or should be thought right but… she couldn’t accept it as that. She had many a time to ponder her ways, her questions, her positions on matters and during that time she became confident and centered. She knew her path, though cruel and misshaped, was the correct path. If only for her and a few others. She believed… in a sense that there was no such thing as ‘Truth’ or, really, no such thing as ‘Lie’. Anyone could make a lie into a truth and a truth into a lie. The truth for one is not the truth for another… and the truth was ever tainted by ‘circumstance’ and so long as it was… oh my, why bother believing in something with ‘conditions’ and ‘exceptions’? Another annoying tid bit. He looked to the greater good… and seeing as he declared himself so clever… then he knew the ‘greater good’ was far off. Long past his life time and that this ‘greater good’ would not last. He fallowed the principles but the principles were not the ones in play, currently. He choose to walk a hard, merciless path… a dangerous one… He choose to walk such a way, why? Why put himself on such a road when he could choose another and end up in the same place? He looked to the future, but why? He wouldn’t be there, wouldn’t be able to live to that day when it… really even mattered. Self preservation was instinct, so was one’s desire not only to survive, but also thrive. Maybe he would thrive on his virtues but those who practiced the sins? They throve faster and thicker. Their punishment would come, undoubtedly, it always does… but it is a far way off. And, most likely they would be dead before they felt it. “But…” Though she lost interest in such topic as truth. Knowing full well that he was as stubborn as she and… no matter how long one pounds it shall not crumble… well, he would not be persuaded. Same as her, so why bother? Conviction. However blind it was. But, there was something to be said. Though she didn‘t care for the topic one of his words trespassed foolishly. “Much less effort in accepting the truth? Don’t walk along so blindly. The truth… is harmful, powerful, destructive. It is hard to accept the truth, especially a truth such as…” Her mind strayed and her words, which flowed fluently but with… more calm repose. You see, night did such. It added a layer of chill warm, it’s… quietness and solitude. So much easier to think, so much easier to… Nonetheless her words, which fell, were allowed to wander as her mind did. Captured, it was, by something else before she snapped back into reality and offered a blink. What… was she saying again? It took but few seconds for her to catch herself, “Let us leave it at that. Don’t be so… convinced the truth is an easier medicine then lies.” Revealing such words were, weren’t they? Yes they were, to the right observer… whether he was the correct observer had yet to be… known, but if persistence count…

“I tend to think I’ve talked to a good few. A good few who… are worth my time. Those good few have spoken enough - I tend to know how others will answer and… those answers I have already mulled over and dubbed ‘incorrect’.” In a time before this she was more open. Curious, or… obviously curious, perhaps that was the better word? Either way she… once upon a time was much more attentive and had strove for learning. During such days she talked to many and many gave her answers. Smart minds, or clever as they truly were… And with all the time in the world she had to tear apart such answers… Few people are different, few thoughts on one question vary greatly enough to be noted. By now she was annoyed with many - they preached the same thing and that was one thing that bit into her hide. She hated being told something over, and over, and over again. So… so irritating. She was not stupid, idiotic, incapable of understanding. She didn’t need instructions or a damn manual. If she needed someone’s opinion or she needed help she would ask for it. Now, the fact that she would never ask for aid [sinful pride] was besides the point. After all… what pleasure it would be to see someone drown in a pool of their own sin and mistake and error. Another reason, another valid point in her mind to tack up in the section, in this t table, of dislike for Truth. He was hell bent on helping someone who didn’t want help. Hell bent also, to see something wrong where… nothing was wrong. Just because he could not see how… how this was ‘working’… Don’t tear down the wall before you know why it was built, yes? Don’t go fiddling with things before you ‘get’ why they were made that way. A, perhaps, random thought but… had he ever thought that maybe she really did do something awful? Something very, very bad… or something just very, very bad in her own mind. Something so bad… but something no one corrected. Guilt, agony. Spite. They did nothing to correct this bad deed because they knew full well this person cared more about that bad deed, though more about it then everyone else. It rips you apart, while trying to find a solution, trying to… But that was an impossible thought, wasn’t it? Or perhaps it was one too conflicting. For someone to argue against virtue, and then have one herself? The virtue of desiring things to balance, to make sense. For bad deeds to meet their punishment…? Mhmm… maybe it had been too long, perhaps she had been alone for such a ways… Perhaps her mind was gently crumbling. After all, this… made no sense, did it? But, considering we already knew that… perhaps Asaki wasn’t really… exactly healthy all the way. Perhaps she was ill upstairs, or perhaps that was just another excuse for someone to buy?

“If I am being untruthful, it will be nothing new to you, my dear. But, ah, how I wish I had a relative, as your sister did. Murder isn’t as fun as people advertise. After one sails through the excitement and adrenaline…” Mind was wandering off again. Which it tended to do as night came. She like the night, it was… so much cooler and so much quieter. The silence was welcoming… and everything about it, all the more pale colors… brilliant. And then to have the rain? Oh my at night being in a cave with the rain gently pummeling. The sweet scent of the rain and then, imagine! Imagine if you were by the ocean and you could see the water gush. Imagine seeing the wind blow and throw, imagine seeing the rain hit and crush the surface and the lightening and in the distance… And then there were times in the night when the flower flies came to play. By an old, old tree, knotted with age… how they gently glimmered into existence and how the long grass whispered sweet melodies. And then the stars, oh my! The stars! And those night-time flowers, sweet smelling and alluring and then the shadows at night, how everything changed and nothing stayed the same… how things became all the more… She liked the night. She always did. The same way she liked flowers, fireflies, thunder, rain… the ocean, mist, fog, stars, stories and so many other things. Sadly such happiness for such things had yet to leave her, sadly. And despite the fact sad memories, cruel memories, vicious memories were attached to each and every thing she liked? Perhaps that is what made them all the more wholesome. The memories of dead children in the flowers. Of the fireflies that flickered as she was left alone, small… The ocean, the sign of eternity… eternity of pain, sadness, cruelty if she so choose. Mist, what she fought through and became lost in. Stars, illuminating his brother and her life with him. Stories, all the ones he told her and filled her with. “You know the rest.” She mused after a moment, drawing herself out once again from her thoughts and such, yes, night was also a time for those. Being alone at night was the… more favored times… As was Dusk. Not that he couldn’t predict that, where as he opted to make a third choice she choose one of the fallowing… The time before the sun sets. And though one could say it was because it was ever tragic, she actually liked it because… Mhmm… Well, it was beautiful, and it grabbed one’s heart and squeezed. Seeing something beloved go, fading… The last sun for quite a spell of time… the fact that it was just that, made it… all the more. Similar to the sight as the phoenix burning… yes? Then the fact that the moon was rising? Mhmm… Shepherd of the Dead was she, and quite an admirable, haunting beauty. She liked dusk and night, predictably enough… not that she said so - divulging information not asked for? Oh my, never. Besides what she liked was irrelevant. “Thrilling adventure or… boring stability?” She continued with her questions. It was her turn now, and her inquiries would, most likely fallow the ‘this or this’ fashion. Until he became bored and left.

[/blockquote]

iF ONLY TO BE ABLE TO SAY
WE TRiED AND iT JUST COULDNT WORK
ASAKi THE COLD

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[Vox]

<sub>She was being very cute. Very cute for Asaki, mind you. Feeling a little tired, Truth lay down where he was, so that his back was facing her. Truth appeared vulnerable, but anybody with sense knew that when he was lying like this, five of his six ends were pointy. It was probably the safest spot for him. He heard her words as a drone, and they slipped through the veils of his mind without leaving any of their usual residue.

Irrational and Rhetoric...I think I like that, darling.

A smile twitched his features and he sat, looking up at the night sky. It was peaceful up there, and for a few minutes her whole grating voice left his ears. The sky was filled with wonders, and Truth didn't understand as many as he should have liked. All the stories were up there, even his story would be written up there. He didn't think himself a grand enough leader to be honored by it, but his mother had also told him it was his fate. Not that he was a Momma's boy, but he had always believed his mother. Calypso rarely lied, and when she did she did it because it would cause you to do something that would be in your favor. More than one lion had said that she was a gift from the heavens to guide them. But whenever they did, Calypso would smile warmly and continue to groom Wisdom, her love. The skies told him many things, and he suddenly felt compelled to speak.

I rather think the discussions of the Cold Rhetoric and the Irrational Truth will be written up there. Calypso always told me that the greatest debates or stories would be put up there as reminders.

Truth certain that their debates were worthy of the sky, even if their lives were too painful or boring to put up there. A small part of him said, that if it was in his power, he would have Asaki put up there once she died. But that part blushed and he calmly slit it's throat and shoved it into the rubbish heap. Those parts of your brain don't die easily though, and it croaked and kept calling to him, haunting him, if you will from that trash bin. Her voice played like music in his ears. Rather like an amateur violinist or a musical saw, but musical all the same. He would answer this statement, because he felt like it.

Yes...All these young ones thing that murder is something that one can look back on and smile upon. I doubt my sister told anybody about how she killed the rogues, not even this new man in her life. But ah well...I suppose it's that righteous shame that I never felt as I commited it. It is yet another small sin to add to my pile.

Smiling as if he had remarked upon a happy memory, Truth stretched on the ground and yawned enourmously. He knew what Sileree had done. He had seen her face, haunted and pale, in a dream of his. ANd then he saw it as she crawled, sobbing, onto the marsh. She had not just escaped as she had said, from the violating rogues. No...They had found her the second time as well, and she was insane with pain and self-loathing. She killed them. All three of them. Brock, Elphias and Mathieu had been found a few days later. There bodies ripped apart, destryed. Nobody knew who had done it, but Truth had known. He had come after her, to see what he could do. But Sileree's walls had gone up, and then down, and then up as she thought over what Calamity had told her. But Truth remained constant, and that was something few people appreciated.

I don't think I can pick...I always seem to be followed by darkness, but I can't say I have a 'thrilling life'. The brighter the light, the longer and darker the shadow, you know. How about you?

Depending on his mood, he could choose either. Right now, he was in a mood for his own life. A life that had once been filled with boring stability, then thrilling adventure and now neverending sorrow. A hauntingness that followed him. You see, being the sun made he got a lot of shit from other people. He seemed to attract cobwebs, so he could melt them. It wasn't fun, and as he had said 'the brighter the light, the longer and darker the shadow'. Was Asaki a shadow that had been set to tail him? If that was so, then he liked this shadow a lot. More than he should...</sub>

[Valid]

ASAKi THE TRAGiC

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LETS TRY LiViNG TODAY
LiKE iT WASNT A MiSTAKE [/center]

Cold Rhetoric and Irrational Truth, mhmm? Almost as good as Bladed Thesis [Muahaha, Jade Empire xP] and Burned Syllabus. Said in such a way, there was little doubt the two could be mistaken as some grand duo. Clever and smart and intelligent, or strong, vicious, and possessing remarkable skill. A marker in history and remembered by scholars and warriors to come. Almost… though she gladly doubted it. Names such as those and, ’He Who Lifts Mountain’… the names of old thinkers and heroes, or so it was in her culture and the stories of the East, her East. Her long departed homeland. Her prison, her cage. So much distance from here, was that place where she was born. So far had she traveled, but… it seemed she made no gain or really… moved too far. The thoughts from such a place were still around… and in a way she felt like she was packing her… origins on her back. Keeping them around, like knives and hooks. Helping to tear at wounds her eyes could no longer see and her own claws no longer touch, and helping to see black blood stream back to the desert and mountains to those who had owned her… stream so her owners could bathe and drink. After all everyone had their dark, dark secrets… and her homeland? Mhmm… funny thing… Secrets are funny. Because, they never stay secrets, you see. No matter how hard you try… they come out. It’s… just how it works. Or so she could think, now that she was outside that place. But inside that place she knew… things were… very different. Secrets were kept till death there, and there… there, there were many great thinkers. Many debates, many arguments as people bled. Misery, agony, fear… there was a lot of that when she left. Hyenas, drought, pompous nobles… all played there part, and never left the script. Funny how such putrid things could live inside beauty. But, that was to be expected, right? Something so brilliant on the exterior… there couldn’t be any brilliance left to be on the inside. Oh… well, she could really care less. She wasn’t going back there, ever. She didn’t have to worry about it.

“Greatest debates?” A smile broke her features at the thought, and she stifled some laughter that dared go alongside it. Greatest debates, surely he was joking? Surely? “Mhmm… Perhaps you, oh might King, are worthy of the stars, but…” She was still trying to see, in what askew vision he had that their words where worthy of anything. Greatest debates? Among the greatest? Among… so many brilliant minds and so many masters of the art? So many deep thinkers and so many… great, great men and women? He thought too much of himself. Their words, their ‘debates’, were insignificant compares to… compares t the great ones in the sky. Up there were the legacies, the stories, the fables. Up there were those who deserved to be remembered and recalled and quoted. Up there… Dancing with the moon, twinkling with other stars. Continuing their debates, thoughts, grand schemes. Those people were great, and greatness… never ran in her veins. She was the daughter of a Philosopher could couldn’t take the whining of children and the bitching of a woman and left. She was the daughter of a Scholar who fell apart and became… Who fell apart and lost all she was, lost herself and became a wreck. Who stared at her children, stares, stared, stared, and greedily took any opportunity to escape from the hell of motherhood. Which she did. She left her children… children who waited a long, long time for mommy to come back. Watching outside the hole, waiting, waiting, waiting. Mommy had it hard, they didn’t want Mommy to have to come look for them when she came back, Mommy would be tired when she came back. Yeah, so, greatness? With the blood of a bitch and bastard? Greatness was far off the mark. Her destiny was to kill the man she loved, be used trophy to his brother, be cast aside as an barren hag, then live with herself, who was her number one hate-er… And this, ladies and gentleman, was her hell hole, where the last role [or so she believes will be her last role... o.o -debates-] in destiny will be played. Up there? Remembered? She hoped she was forgotten. She hoped everything would disappear. She hoped there was an end. She hoped nothing would be left. She hoped… when she died she could roll over and find the abyss of nothing, that she could… be lost and never be found and though she might, very well in the first times of eternity search… She would stop searching soon enough and then she could enjoy the nothingness after... After everything that happened and… everything that happened and everything that was. “But, I hate to break to you, Sire…” Her composure returned quietly, silently, stealthy, as her eyes flickered from the skies to the ground. “There are more deserving things that should be up there then what we have ever said or what we will ever say. Or… what I have said or will say, at least.”

It would be nice… if she could find some… way to be vengeful towards what happened. Be nice if she could find something more then seamless hate, hate for him… and then hate for herself. It would be nice if she could blame someone else. She use to, yes, but after a while… the truth, oh my, how fun was it to swallow. Especially so without lies to sweeten it, to make it easer to take. Mhmm… Truth, truth, truth. How cruel, but oh how ‘just’. And, yes, my sweets, she would say it would bitterness and disgust. Pain wasn’t fun, and though after a while one got use to it… it seemed after a while things changed and others came up, or your own self, came up with newer and newer ways to tear apart the fabrics of sanity and tolerance and… In the same way one was always astounded. Always amazed at how much blood came out. Over, and over, pint after pint after pint. It came in galleons and tons and it came, and came, and came. A never ending cycle, it seemed. Cut, bleed, heal. Cut, bleed, heal. Of course the healing was never allowed the greater part of time… And of course the cycle was never ending, despite how it seemed. When one’s body was dead, as was one’s spirit and soul… That’s when one was truly dead, when the ghost was no longer haunted itself, when the corpse no longer needs to pretend its alive. That’s when. But, that time was far off. So far off. Eternity was a large ocean to cross, she wasn’t even halfway… yet. “Neither, actually.” She spoke, despite her mind wandering she was growing accustom to still listening, despite. And besides when she was surprised to hear something she tended to pay it more mind then usual. And so she did. She wondered why he asked, after all he was so smart surely he knew? Asaki didn’t want life. She didn’t want either. Right? “I have… no incentive to risk my life, to be stupid enough to partake an ‘adventure’. But… I wouldn’t last long if nothing happened, if there was nothing but cheerful faces and stability.” She’d go insane… and she’d feel… just… odd. At least in this world she knew there were other miserable creatures. At least in this world she was ‘just another’. If there was stability there wouldn’t be… ‘others’. All… happy and crap it’s grate her nerves and push her to sanity, little question.

“What is worse? Doing a great wrong… or doing nothing to stop it?” A shadow? Mhmm… well, if we think about it… A shadow is destined to fallow its master and always be at its master’s feet… And if we think of that and think of darling Asaki? She would lionize those she had to. She would bow when she needed to. She would… but the fact of the matter was… there was little chance in hell he’d have her at his feet. Fallowing him around like a little puppy, idolizing her master and kissing his steps. A shadow… was a peculiar thing and to be honest, she had heard many reference it as ‘another self’. Or, ‘the other self’. The other without a face, without a voice. Without, while you were with. It was an enemy, for it ever desired to take what it did not have but it was a faithful and loyal companion when all others were not. The shadow… belonged to those who were. The night would be getting on, and time would, of course pass. She watched him steadily, as he shuffled and shifted. Tempted to do the same… She didn’t feel the fatigue he did. Night was her time, and it brought about a more pleasing mood. Night was when she was more lively, and… of course day brought about the opposite. She pondered, as he became more comfortable and seemed to ready for any sleep that took him, if he planned to do just that - fall asleep instead of leaving? She wouldn’t put it past the peculiar fellow but she pondered it all the same. Yes, she was definitely right his name could very well be Irrational, or better yet, Foolish. In his sleep he would be an easy one to murder… He thinks I am incapable… She mumbled such with agitation as she shifted, also. Her back to his back, with a nice distance still apart as she gazed out across the great plateau. Though he was right, if he did assume, that she would make no move to be a killer… that didn’t mean she was incapable. It meant more along the lines he was not worth the possible struggle… and the uproar a dead king could cause among his people.

[/blockquote]

iF ONLY TO BE ABLE TO SAY
WE TRiED AND iT JUST COULDNT WORK
ASAKi THE COLD

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[Vox]

|ooc| : I'm surprised I managed to poop this much out! xDD No muse, as you can see...

You are too modest...That was what Truth might have said. He probably would say it. But now...The stars were too beautiful to talk over. Watching them through his gray eyes, Truth smiled. Smiled at the simplicity of them, at the complications that arose over them and at the meaning that we all give them. As the day pretended to be bright, the night was resting and being itself. It was a much better feeling, less superficial and more comforting. It helped Truth sleep at times, but now, it kept him awake. Quite on the contrary, he did not think Asaki incapable. He thought her very able indeed, she could look after herself all right. She was like a lady in a suit, self-sufficient, plain and bitter. But very independent. That was needed, he supposed, for a woman who walked alone. She did not understand what he had meant by shadow. He had not begun to presume her a dog, one that would be in his shadow forevermore. No...He had meant the sort of shadow that one cannot see. Not in the metaphorical sense, as in a shadow in a closet or behind a tall man. A shadow in a place where there is no light. Is there such a thing? It is the same thing as a candle in cave. Behind the light, there is it's shadow. But it does not follow it, it merely observes and attacks at times. That was the subtle beauty about the relationship between light and dark. Even our little masters, the humans, do not understand it. It is not only made up of particles, but of something more divinely proportionate. Geometry. The whole world is made up of geometry. " The Golden Mean, Rhetoric...You have not yet asked me about that...But I doubt you would want an answer even to this question if you did... " Everything is in proportion, even the ugliest things. Even Asaki's soul which seemed tarnished beyond repair, was beautiful. Beautiful, but only to those who knew how to look at it. Truth did.

I will not be written up there. But I think...I think that our discussions about the relationship between lies and truth, and whether or not they are the same thing, might be. And I dare say, the sky being the large thing it is, that the heavens might find a small space for 'Rhetoric'. I am perfectly comfortable as I am, though. The sooner Death takes me, the sooner I can begin the real adventure, and leave this corporeal prison.

That's the thing with most kids these days. They want to play football [all right, soccer. If it makes you happy...], or american tackle or baseball or be on a mag cover. But others, like Truth, know that the only thing that will make you happy is doing what you are meant to do. Most people are not clear on that, but those who die very young are sure to have the right idea. It is not the years in your life, but the life in your years that counts, as our beloved Abraham Lincoln said. And, in a way, that was what Truth lived for. He lived for the day when he would know what he was supposed to do and do it. Right now, it was just 'lead your pride, and believe only the truth' oh and 'knock old ladies over in the grocery store'. Yep...That was his life. Call it dull, it did have it's peak moments. Like this. Looking up at the stars with what one might consider a friend on one side and a very full mind.

I thought you might say that. 'Neither, actually', if you call that an answer. I daresay it is worse than mine.

A hoarse chuckle came from him. It was a guttural sound and it made his lips twitch, but only a little. His mood persisted. The mood that would not let him sleep or do anything. The perfect mood for Talmudic debates...

Both are bad, but if I had to pick one--and forgive me if this is terribly predictable--it would be doing nothing to stop a great wrong. If I'm going to do something wrong, like kill somebody, I'm going to do it at the time I want, how I want and where I want. I'm going to be the one responsible for it, and when they shut me up in the Asylum for it or whatever, I'm going to laugh into their fat faces. That's just what I would do though...

It would have been almost laughable if his voice had not just turned deadly serious and nastily menacing. If he was going to kill his parents, he would do it when, where and how he wanted to. He would not be like the other and stand on the sidelines. Because that was what everybody else did. " Remember...You are unique, just like everybody else...I'm not though...I'm so much less than them, and so much more. I'm not everybody. I'm Truth. But that's bollocks. Who am I kidding? I'm nobody, remember? I have no alibi to prove I ever existed, actually. Other than the people I have met here, most of them are dead though. Ha! "

[/blockquote]

[Valid]

ASAKi THE TRAGiC

[/size]
LETS TRY LiViNG TODAY
LiKE iT WASNT A MiSTAKE [/center]

Oh my… surely one noted? ‘Unique, just like everyone else’. Funny how such a thing worked out… Funny indeed. Almost as humorous as how everyone did strive to be different, original, fascinatingly peculiar. They wanted… difference because then they would be remembered, then they would be noted… But, after a while… things have to repeat, don’t they? History, lives, the paths chosen. A replication. It was… comforting in a way. After one surpasses that ‘must be different’ stage… crossing that line and finding out that… one of the more scarier things is to not know what to do, and to not know how to handle something. Being unique… is something hard to grasp, and once one does one finds… it difficult to plot the next move to keep individuality… Hard to grasp, easy to lose, uniqueness, just like trust… and truth. But! All the same, the thing with repeating is… you’ll always know what to do, and you will always know how to act. Everything will be already done… everything already mapped… It was, in a way, just like her question. Would you rather the thrilling adventure [uniqueness] or would you rather boring stability [commonness]? With the adventure, the heroes who participated chanced to be remembered by the masses… with the adventure one never knew if they’d get out alive… with the adventure one never really knew the path they were taking. It was dangerous, but thrilling. It reminded one that one was still alive… And with stability… it was simply the opposite.

Mhmm… It was… wondersome, wasn’t it? If you… wanted honesty she could give it, now, concerning this topic. This topic of Truth and his own desire for death. Speaking with honesty she wondered over it, and could find flaw and aggravation within it. He didn’t… want to die. And for some reason, call her haughty or otherwise, she felt as if he was… patronizing, mocking. In other respects she… really wanted to ask, and to be able to be convinced. To know the answer, and to know such answer wouldn’t change. And yet, once one gets into that… she’d end up asking more then one question and wanted more then one answer. She would ask if he really wanted to die, also… if so, then why. Also, alongside those two, if he really thought there would be something after this. And if there was something after this, then what? He said it was the ‘adventure’ but… A bit… scary, nay? She’d start with one question and end up with multiple and these questions would be ones she’d… really want the answer to. But, then again she didn’t ask such questions often… it simply didn’t seem ‘appropriate’ nor did it really seem… time or place or that she had enough acre to stick with the long winded replies enough to even… Worried. Concerned. She had confidence but it faltered, there, on the border… She wanted death, because she doubted it could be any worse but… but what if it was? Nightmares come true, she had so many nightmares and… what if… what if death wasn’t, really, an escape? What if it was ‘part two’ and what if…

Mhmm… She was fond of knowing things. Fond of being able to understand, comprehended, and if she ever felt a desire, explain. She was fond of that feeling, that sensation of being able to know… And because of that she knew much. She knew about this and she knew about that but… it didn’t seem she knew much about the thing that mattered most to her. And because she didn’t know, she had little control and that… ate her alive. If she could not control herself? Oh my, she was like her cousin. She was like Pestilence, if there were things in the world that nagged at her and… that were true horrors of nightmares, it was not being able to control herself, to control what she did and how she did it and the rest. And being helpless. Another thing she despised but, after a while of feeling ‘helpless’ a few times one gets use to it, and one gets better at finding ways to keep ‘helpless’ out of the records and books. “Your weird.” She listened to his laugh and raised but a brow, and yet as he turned awfully serious and went about his ‘doing nothing’ spell she simply shook her head and provided him with his purchase. Yes, he might have said a lot but… not what she really cared about, but, he spoke and with that he gave up enough to get a reply.

Her question was another one she didn’t like. It… just wasn’t a very fond one in her view, but he answered and his answer was what mattered more. Though his answer sucked, or, maybe, how he said it and where his answer drove him, sucked. Don’t be so quick to ruin what your wait has provided. A highlight, a perk in his life, was this? Mhmm, he did have a boring life but… But, what a charming word, don’t you think? Always picking it’s way in most sentence’s our dear writer writes… Though, what this ‘but’ meant? After all considering darling Asaki surely this ‘but’ was to add on something a bit more spikey? Mean really who would believe that Asaki the Cold, Asaki of the East, Rhetoric, would, on the contrary, be adding a ’but’ into that sentence because, perhaps, she was enjoying herself? If only mildly, and slightly, so? After all talking to someone beat talking to herself, if only because he wasn’t overly loud or obnoxious. Or too childish or… ‘gleeful’. He was mild though she could do without much of the friendliness, for it seemed he had shed the flaw of persistence that he had earlier that night. But, to say he was… unobjectionable, company, for the most part, of [… would it be ‘at’, instead?] current? Mhmm, she couldn’t say that. It would blow her disguise and it’d, definitely, go to his head. He was bearable, perhaps even meekly pleasing but that didn’t mean anything. Nothing. Nothing… at all. And that was something one could take to the bank. Even if the bank, occasionally, was incorrect in judging the worth of certain, important, items…

Important her ass. Few things were important… really important and even then they tended to be ‘important’ only to a few people with similar ideas and even then? Even then, oh my. But… again there were replicas there, too, with people exactly the same in respects to thinking and values and the rest. Mhmm… but people like that tend not to get along. Or maybe it was just her and her 'type'? She knew if there was another in a good range of here, who acted like her… oh my she wouldn’t last long. She’d just be tearing that pretty little face up and spitting on a bloody, dead corpse before long. She had to take shit off some people but some bony chick who threw her an attitude? Oh, honey, please… someone done forgot who they were dealing with. Yes, she valued her life because no one else did. Yes, she valued her life over virtue. Yes, she bowed to power and was easily persuaded [never deeply persuaded, only persuaded because the probability things would get ugly otherwise was high] by it… But, see, there was this… very thin line. The line said that… some things you had to do, other things you didn’t. Taking crap off someone without status, someone who was on their own? Swallowing any dignity she still had? Oh my… She’d say the odds were pretty good, pretty even. And the cuts, bruises and broken things she’d have after doing her rather impatient and brutal deed? Worth it.

She couldn’t find a comfortable position. Illusive it was and she tossed and turned, until finally she was on her back. Gaze hardening as it viewed the great star sea above, and the clouds that blocked some from view as her tail flicked rhythmically. She… really couldn’t get comfortable it seemed. A bone seemed to poke out here or there or she simply just didn’t like the position. But, that wasn’t at all… odd. It was hard to get to sleep and sleeping in the day, the warmth of the day, was what she was use to. Not that that mattered much as she drifted onto her newest inquiry. A light smile tracing her features, amusement already coming, despite. She knew he would be confused, but, still… She wanted to see it, or hear it, or sense it for herself. The ‘envisioned’ could never compare to the ‘reality’, you see. “Why?” She asked, making sure good time had elapsed so he knew this word, this question, was standing independently and was related to nothing previously said. As night drew in she took a more… sweeter, relaxed tone. As if he had managed to dull the knives but, he could rest assured they were still sharp enough to behead him.

Out of Juice: Mhmm… this is not done. And I… think this is going to end up pretty big. X.x -is getting ideas- xD Sileree with no muse, and… Valid with pretty good muse! At least for Asaki… o.o -needs to work on Causey-

[/blockquote]

iF ONLY TO BE ABLE TO SAY
WE TRiED AND iT JUST COULDNT WORK
ASAKi THE COLD

[/size][/center]

[Vox]

His back was paining him in the position, so he moved. It was not going to be a boring night, to say the least. She was certainly haughty, he liked her that way and he wouldn't have changed her even if he could. Now that he knew what she was like, Truth was not entirely sure it would benefit her to change. She was happy, in a way, in her pool of despair and what sort of monster was he to pull her out by the hair? If she was happy that way, then she could stay there. He thought it was silly that the poor woman screamed whenever she was offered a hand up, but then he was not inside her head and it was not for him to judge. True wisdom comes with the understanding that not all others see the way you do. Or if not true wisdom, then at least peace of mind. At least then he would not have an angry mob outside his house, screaming at him to give them their victim filled life back. He heard her. " You're weird. "

Thanks honey, you have no idea how much that makes me happy. But darling, let's try and expand our vocabulary. There are many synonyms to 'weird', you know. And it doesn't do intelligence justice to sound like a 3rd grader.

He replied to her, turning to bat his eyelashes in mock love at her. No laugh came this time, but his eyes did twinkle in the moonlight. " You're weird...Of all the things! I would have thought it would be something more offensive. Very sweet, this lemon drop. Of course...I always liked a bit of a sting with my candies. A canker sore or two would be welcome. " She asked him 'Why?' my my, Asaki was not feeling very talkative. But Truth liked her tone, and he liked his will power even better. Because if not for the latter he might have purred, but he knew that would certainly get her riled and he had worked to hard for that.

It would be fun. You get a very funny list on people in Asylums. Take Uncle Legend for example, he was put away because he pretended to be a lemon for a year. A lemon in a gin and tonic. And then he dived in and out of a gin and tonic for a few weeks, or at least he said he got a lake to agree to be a gin and tonic for a little bit. I'm not nearly as mad as all that, but it would be good for a laugh. Don't you think?

It was all in the essence of the mood. They were making little things out of big deals. Slamming down on top of mountains with a fly swatter until they became molehills. It was all in good fun, especially for Truth who had the ability to make the most amazing things seem offhand and casual. Or to make the smallest things seem big and impressive. Or simply to manipulate the minds of small people to gain his own ends. Asaki could not be manipulated, she was a big person trapped in a small situation. All boxed up, and he intended to free her. But as said before, only if she wanted to be freed.

[/blockquote]

[Valid]

ASAKi THE TRAGiC

[/size]
LETS TRY LiViNG TODAY
LiKE iT WASNT A MiSTAKE [/center]

Oh my, was he backing down? He wasn’t advancing anymore, pushing for things to be ‘his way’. Or maybe he was, trying some sort of new tactic, once he figured out the obvious didn’t work so well. She wouldn’t put it past him and the fact she was suspicious and ever speculating about others, mhmm, yes. Still hard to see, though. He was going to set her free, perhaps, but how was the question. Surely he had a professional way? It wasn’t wise for a man to dive in thick after the death of a wife. Yet, maybe she was thinking him kinder and in better light then what she should? See, so annoying that was. It was still her tendencies, like others’ tendencies, to think that they knew someone all the more as they talked and spent time with them. Glad, she was, that she caught herself. After all… it wasn’t wise to have confidence in a stranger. They tend to disappoint. Nor was it wise to have confidence in friends. They tend to stab one in the back. One… was wise not to trust anyone. Which only showed how foolish everyone was. Everyone… trusted someone. One time or another. And even for those who swore they would never trust anyone ever again… they habited to trust someone. Again. And feel the pain all over and, thus starts the repetition. Repetitious, perfect word for… the world and the ones within it. Futile, as well. Especially her… She was very much futile. Fighting the inevitable… But that went along… with being mortal. Fighting the battles one couldn’t win. Struggling against the current despite knowledge that one would drown… even if she reprimanded others for doing so regularly, seemed she was in the same boat to be scorned.

“Aww, never thought you to lecture so analytically about vocabulary.” She snapped icily. A combination of mild annoyance from his spoken words, and reaction to his foolish teasing. A flick of her ears in the opposing direction, her eyes which translated the same as her voice, fallowing suit, to the sound of his voice once again. Her inwardly, unvoiced muttering were not silenced however, her attention was merely split as she scoffed. Though, admittedly she found it somewhat peculiar… But, dismissed it with the fact that… how he replied he connected it to previous, recent, conversation. Perhaps he simply didn’t get it? Then again she was pretty few would have. ‘Why?’ was… a question with infinite answers. And it was meant to be a… key. Talk about whatever you want, answer it however. And how one answered it, and how one turned the conversation, that was the more fascinating part. Recalled, she did, how she played the insightful game before. Of course… back then it was seen as a much more… dire thing. So many wrong ways to answer without knowing it. And… how one answered could be perceived so very differently, depending on the person… Naturally, that made it all the more interesting for the one who asked… naturally, that made it all the mores ‘stressing’ for the one in the hot seat. Not that it couldn’t just be diverted with a ‘because’, but… that could also be seen in different light. After all why wasn’t this person answering, were they hiding something, why didn’t they want to talk? It was… a headache, really.

Mhmm… her prison. Her prison was self-inflicted now… And if he could answer ‘yes’ to but one question then, he could rest assured that… her misery and despair was very much just and logical. And that question was ever simple, ever, ever simple - If someone does something villainous, should they be punished for their crime? And if he believed so passionately about truth then… And yet, there she goes again. Speculating. It seemed she had missed the part about… it was possible for one to believe, fervently, in truth but… not necessarily be a good, kind person. It simply happened he was… seemingly friendly and kind. Hell bent on aiding those who didn’t want it. But… that was what it seemed and… And, well… She shouldn’t be surprised if he was a wicked person, should she? It was possible. And the possibility was enough, wasn’t it? Though she sincerely doubted he was… malevolent, what a clever guise it would all this be, if he was. Even if, frankly, she could name numerous other things such a malevolent, ingenious person could and should be doing. Plotting to be the supreme ruler or some other idiotic fantasy men and their ego concoct? Mhmm… but, you never knew, she guessed. Even if the thought in and of itself was crawling with laughter. “Of course.” She replied with a convincing nod her head and a rather surprising sincere expression. Personally she didn’t know if it would be fun, but, definitely interesting in the very least, surely. Mhmm, or, maybe seeing Truth do so would be fun? Oh, now she was willing to bet on that. He’d most likely convince the others to gang up on the nurses and staff and do a little ‘King of the Asylum’ stunt. A thing she could envision and a thing that was tickling her insides and making a chest bounce as she stifled sound, or did her best to.

[/blockquote]

iF ONLY TO BE ABLE TO SAY
WE TRiED AND iT JUST COULDNT WORK
ASAKi THE COLD

[/size][/center]

[Vox]

No dearest, he is not backing down. He is, as you have already presumed, trying another tact. For some strange reason, Truth felt inclined to help this lioness. Hmmm...Nope, sorry darling. Not tellin' ya why he's being so nice. It would be too tempting to try a meta-game of ol' Truth. She called herself futile...It was the truth. She was fighting several somethings that she knew would overcome her before long. She knew it, and that was the scary bit. Not to Truth, he just thought it was sad, but probably to her. What was the point in fighting something if you knew you were going to lose? Scratch that. What was the point in fighting something that knew it was going to win, and knew you knew it was going to win? Heck, for the only purposes possible. One, you actually think you might beat it. Two, simply for the purpose of fighting it or because you are bored/have a death wish. Three, you haven't actually thought of it like this and have merely fought it because it was scary and it was there. What was she fighting? Well, despite her words that she welcomed death, Asaki didn't actually appear to want to die. " You've said you've had a deathwish for some time now. There are cliffs everywhere Asaki! Be the man which you so obviously want to become and jump off! It would be the wrong thing to do, but since you have no inclination to do what's right then I don't suppose you'd care, eh? " She was also fighting the help that Truth offered. He was offering her the chance to clean up her act. But if he was forthright and said that, she would repel him or get violent. She would say that he didn't understand, the little victimized poppinjay, or that she didn't want any help. Asaki, or Rhetoric as we now call her {Tory for short xD}, was very much like a child. Her words sounded slick and cool, but they were coming from a child who had lost their Mum and Dad and didn't know what to do. Of course, he would never tell her that because he appreciated the fact that even if she had walls and at times was immature. It sounds odd, but that was what gave him the most hope. If she was mature, she would have accepted the help in the beginning. If not, then she would be easier to persuade. He was not a manipulator, well he is but not with her. It was Truth's greatest downfall. He liked her too much now. But hush, I haven't finished yet. These are my thoughts, not Truth's. He does not think her a little victimized poppinjay, that's what I think. And dearest me has harsh thoughts. Yes, I do. But Truth does not judge unless it is pure truth he sees behind the veils of lies. He sees no truth in her face so far, and yet he cannot bring himself to penetrate her walls. " It's her mind, her privacy and she'll hate me if I butt in. " He thought fairly.

Do you like flow'rs, Asaki?

He asked, his voice mild and calm. It had soothed itself since the sun had gone down. He was calmer at twilight, and now that night blanketted the land, you might even call him loving. Might. Loving in reality, not his fascade. It is very easy to 'play' loving, but not as easy to 'be' loving. Truth was both right now. Not as if he adored the lioness, merely as if he respected her opinion and liked the way she thought. Not an admirer, nor a follower. A friend, of sorts. The sort of friend that is offering a deeper relationship after he and his companion have warred against each other. Truth liked flow'rs. They were delicate, and small, but they could fend for themselves. They could make a bare landscape beautiful, an ugly house pretty, and fetid air smell like honeysuckle rose. It was blissful to be in a flow'r garden, and Truth wished there were some sea flow'rs aronund here. There were none, as he looked around. The land was barren, and salt stung his nostrils as he took deep breathes. Face filled with bridled pleasure, he turned his gray eyes to Asaki and watched her curiously. It was getting dark out, but he could still see her face. It was a wasted face. Very beautiful, with every charm that a female could have, and yet neglected. Like a show dog left out in the streets, Asaki looked out of place. " Where is your thrown? You've lost it, haven't you...? " He thought in slight amusement, but more concern. It did not show on his face, he would not allow it. She would get the wrong idea, and he had a feeling that attachment would get him nowhere with her. He ignored her comment " Of course. " it made for little conversation, and frankly he was finished reminiscing about Asylums. The thought of flow'rs filled his mind again and he allowed a small smile to slip stealthily across his face before vanishing past his ear. It was gone soon, and he was sure she didn't see it, but he thought he could almost smell the exotic flow'rs he had seen in his home. The northeast was more hospitable than here, with much more vegetation. Ethiopia had been very beautiful, althought the hunters were very disagreeable back there. He was not ready to tell her about his encounters with humans yet. Not quite yet. Twitching his left ear at the thought, he felt it get tickled by the air as it rushed through the small hole in the side of it. Small, unobstrusive and boring, the hole was one that an lion such as Truth might have acquired. He was not young, and not old. Not middle-aged. He seemed to have a young body and an old mind. What may have caused this? Truth knew, I know, Asaki might have some idea but I can't say anything on Valid's behalf.

The air was calm and peaceful, and Truth laid his head between his paws and stared at the horizon. He had often wondered as a child what was beyond that sun. What was it like if he were to sail, or swim or be carried through the air into the sun. Purring at the thought, helet his eyes glaze over at the thought. It would be very warm, and there would be flow'rs and water, and plenty of food for him to eat. But then his purr was cut off, the second he realized he had actually been making the rasping noise. There would be Narati and Silke in the sun probably, and now that they were gone he wasn't sure he wanted to see them. " Shame on you, old man. I thought you wanted to see them again? " Asked one side of his brain in a dry sounding drawl. The other side argued back that he did miss them, but they were a lot of trouble. Silke always got lost, and Narati's depression weighed on him. If you believe, as Truth does, that everyone has a purpose in life and if you don't fulfill that purpose you are not scalded or sent to hell but merely send to 'grade school' for your contracts and complete them there; then you will agree with him when he thinks this. Even though Narati's violation had gotten him extremely upset, and then her death had destroyed him, he knew it was what was meant to be. I know for people who don't understand, it is hard to imagine your mother, spouse or grandparents death as 'all for the best' or 'meant to be' or your little brother's death as 'Good man! You fulfilled your life's purpose in THREE YEARS! Good on yah, mate!' but that is what Truth believed. It was easier that way, and his family had taught him that since he was little. They taught him that, and that was what he had based his life off of. {Remember kids, if you ain't first, yer last! WOOHOO! -hopsthroughwindowintoracecar- xDDDDDDDDDDD} The sand scraped his soft shin as he settled himself in a more comfortable lying down position, head between front feet and blank eyes staring. He didn't seem to need to blink as much as other lions, and his gray eyes always seemed to stare, even if he was in a 'soft-gaze' mode. It had been a while since had had last eaten, but he was not hungry. It seemed that the more time he spent in this position, meditative almost, the less he was attached to material things like food and water. He still ate, but not with his usual gusto and only reluctantly. Meat made him heavy, sleepy and tired and he puked whenever he ate anything else. Most lions don't find it easy to dine on apples. Truth was one of them. Looking to Asaki, waiting for her reply, Truth allowed his tail to flick a little. It was easy for him now, to find bliss in situations. And this mildly stiff conversation was not the least challenging of all his situations. Trust me, it's the Truth.

|ooc| : Methinks der muse has returned xD .

[/blockquote]

[Valid]

ASAKi THE TRAGiC

[/size]
LETS TRY LiViNG TODAY
LiKE iT WASNT A MiSTAKE [/center]

What was Valid thinking? Oh my, Valid’s up to her neck in everything, anything, and oh, oh, oh is it taking a toll. Especially this little sour puss here and those sweethearts over there. People don’t think exactly like Valid does, chances are, and my… if they did, and act on how she thinks, how long would they last? If you keep your darlings around a while they get difficult and harder to ‘see’. They go from the original plan into their own little words and mindsets and… people really don’t have a clue how hard it is to make sense of something after it’s been tweaked and edited so. Serious characters take their toll, ones who are more… about… about what Asaki’s about. Their histories are changed and tweaked as new ideas come along, their personalities morph and change as they enter new areas and experiences… but they usually keep to the main course, usually… but… But, it would be easier. If Valid played numerous characters like Asaki, then things would be bliss. But, imagine hopping from character to character. Each with their different story, each with their different personality and their own furthering of their ‘life’. It gets confusing, and it gets harder to keep up and really keep… ‘tabs’ on where your darlings are going. Harder to keep tabs on your own darlings, and harder yet to think of what Sileree has in store. Valid likes things to make sense. To be easily ‘understood’ or for things to ‘feel like it is making sense’. She likes cause and affect and she enjoys thinking. Thinking about the different ‘views’ one could have in any sort of situation and that is exactly why she has so many contrasting, yet… similar characters. She tries to make their emotions… valid, reasonable, ‘possible’. She tries to keep things ‘making sense’ and though she enjoys playing these rather… complex darlings, such as Asaki and Because, oh my, there are… confusing, even to the creator. ‘Tis why one definitely needs to keep some more fun-er characters around. Even if they habit to become more and more complex as well as played, Because is a prime example of it. After all he started out a cheery fellow. Look at him now. But, nonetheless things do it elaborate mighty quick, don‘t they? … Especially so when the writer tends to ramble. Ramble a lot and go off in any and every direction. Like Valid is doing now. Like Valid does often then not to make something long and all else.

And yet, Valid. We aren’t here to chat about Valid though Valid could certainly type up a good sum of her own opinions on Truth, Asaki, and everything happening. Yes, indeed… but this isn’t about Valid. It’s about Asaki and her… surprise. She didn’t expect such a question, you see. And she was in quite a dilemma. She didn’t know if she wanted to answer, nor if she wanted to be truthful. She fought, she resisted… because it was her nature. The simplest answer, the simplest option but… it wasn’t a complete one. Simplicity didn’t suit her well… because there was so much ‘under these conditions’ and ‘only if this happens’. If one had yet to guess… though, I am sure you have. After all… she isn’t antisocial but she doesn’t like to talk. She asks many questions but she doesn’t want the answers. She knows she’s fighting something she wouldn’t win, but she fights. She is in a pride but she isn’t part of it. She doesn’t believe in virtue, but she’s acting on it. Conflicting. Very… conflicting, confusing, and it’s getting harder to fallow, or, maybe just for me? Probably just for me. Probably… But, then again Valid-poo isn’t paying so much attention to Asaki of current. Curiosity has been sparked. Truth is the way he is… for some reason? Well, ‘for some reason’, Valid figured so but her figuring was because he was born that way. But, admittedly… “Yeah.” Took a few moments of pause before she answered, but she answered and… that was the point, right? Maybe. She was always told that how you answered, in what manner, counted, usually, much more then the reply itself… She recalled her life, her childhood. As expected she didn’t have much of one. She was serious, eerie, professional and formal. She acted right, and she often acted alone. But, naturally, she was… definitely ‘different’ from how she is now. Quite different… aye, she had spikes back then but she was also… more of a teasing, playful person? If those be the right words… And he curiosity back then was… more abundant and just… ‘more’. She wasn’t as hard, either. Yeah, difficult even then but… not to this degree. Mhmm, but why did everyone… think of it as bad, as an illness, as something to be ‘fixed’. She remembered a drifter she had met before, Ralos. She was the one who introduced the concept, the ‘Maybe it’s better this way?’ and ‘Why is everyone hell-bent on changing what works’? She introduced a concept the suited Asaki well… the well-seasoned woman with a coy and flirty demeanor. One who danced with death and insanity but still remained jolly, sarcastic, and at the same time hauntingly serious and alluringly evasive. Her name, especially, Asaki liked it… Ralos… Solar… Mhmm Truth… Hturt?

She didn’t kill herself because… wait, haven’t we went over this before? She didn’t kill herself because she couldn’t kill herself because she wasn’t as brave, courageous and of strong enough will [as well as the fact Valid won’t let her have her suicide, yet, anyway] that she could. Rest assured, darlings, she tried. Standing on the ledge and peering downward. Eyeing the rocks below, thinking of how much better it could be. How death could be her escape and how she could be released from… everything. Tempting it was but she couldn’t make her feet move. Her mind denied her death… because there was a prospect that death was not an escape. It could be worse… It could not be an end but, a beginning. And if it was a beginning? The torment would continue and it very well could be worse. And so we are the recording and echo what has been said - She was damned. One was or another. The uncertainty was killing her, the possibility it could be worse. That haunted her, and countered the desire to step. To… fallow through with an act she contemplated daily… The curiosity for what it felt like to be falling, truly falling was weighing on her. But she had a good guess… that it was a sickeningly helpless feeling that she wouldn’t enjoy… And then perhaps, when she fell and landed she wouldn’t die immediately. Perhaps she would suffer only broken bones and fractured body. And then she would have to wait hour after hour as the scavengers had their way before she finally drifted away. But, maybe she’d fall unconscious during then… so she wouldn’t feel a thing as her cheat heaved feebly and birds swooped and dove and dissected. Yes… jumping off a cliff sounded bliss but she saw so many ways it could go wrong. And death sounded so handsome but, again she saw so many ways where it could go wrong, too. And… Asaki liked a sure-fire thing. Liked knowing for sure, liked it dearly. She didn’t enjoy not knowing, or the possibilities something could go wrong. Especially when it concerned her life… ‘Whee gee, bob, there’s an eighty percent chance if she goes into a grouping of rogue males she’ll be raped! But wait! There’s a twenty percent chance she’ll just feel very uncomfortable!’ See where this was going? See? Yeah, truth be known nothing was ‘for sure’, but… if she had to settle for something then she’d settle for the odds, distinctly, in her favor. A bit of a worry-wart, this one was. Always thinking… and her thoughts were far from chocolate and roses. Far… far from chocolates and roses. And, aside from that she tended to mull things over for quite a while. Musing about what she failed to see and what she should have saw… There was little doubt she was her own worst critic.

“Does manly man like flowers too?” She asked, ignoring the fact the question was impeccably odd. Odd, yet… if they wanted to talk about odd her own questions were peculiar, too, and in general it seemed whenever the two encountered one another there was just such an abundance of ‘strangeness’ anyway so… she figured… throw a dog a bone? Ignore it and simply document it for later pondering. Which was a good way to miss something, this, ‘shuffle and file’, but… But she figured some things. A brain use to fast calculus… or, faster then what… some do? Uh, well… Miss Asaki has been using some logic now. Well, obviously but her logic efforts had morphed inton a different direction, after her mind dipped itself in the ‘oddness’ of their meetings. She figured, now, as he seemed to let off his… constant bitching about reform… that… that would be that for a while. Or, for the time being. Now, she still believed he had motives and an intent. Aye, she had no clue what it was and still wasn’t quite believing it was a just ‘I want the caged bird to be free’ crap that it seemed to be. He seemed… a bit thicker for that… even if her mind could come up with multiple reasons to support the option that it could very well be ‘all there was to it’. But! Off the point, we are? She was using her logic now to work out a little thing. It said that it seemed he quit being obvious about things. It said that he wasn’t too… stupid and it also said she could think that he thought she wasn’t too stupid either. In such way she could guess that his ‘motives’ or his ‘main goal’ would be put off some, yeah? Good things come with time and big thoughts need time to adjust when one uses a new tactic? Yes… she figured so… and so… she could relax, some, mhmm? Or she could simply chase shadows while trying to pick apart the meager information she had already securitized… and then have no effort or desire to even ponder any new data came about. If… any new data came about. She kept the possibility that he would suddenly and abruptly just… go away and never come back. That they never met again and this was the last she’d see of annoying, annoying… confusing, confusing… some what amusing, amusing… little bastard such as he. Yeah, never meeting another like him seemed bliss. He was a handful, an armful, a thoughtful. A thousand card pick-up one wasn't sure they wanted to play. Which she knew she was in some other's view, too. A thousand card pick-up with no guarantee [on the contrary constant reassurance there was none] of a prize in the end. And from her knowledge she'd say he just didn't see it that way. Either that or he enjoyed his work to be in vain, or she had managed to piss him off enough this was the result of spite.

[/blockquote]

iF ONLY TO BE ABLE TO SAY
WE TRiED AND iT JUST COULDNT WORK
ASAKi THE COLD

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[Vox]

Truth the Empty
every truth is but a half truth

Lovely lass, I was wondering when you would realize that minor detail. That small--despicably so, in fact--blemish that seems to hover over our little man. He cannot escape it, and he can't even live with it. How does he survive? The king tries not to think of that. Not 'Hturt', Asaki, simply 'Hurt'. Old english, babe. 'Truth' is also 'True' and 'Truh'. The same sound, minus one vowel. One little vowel. So similar to that minor detail. It was that one detail that made all the difference. Notice how it follows, trailing behind him like a disgusting parody of a pet. But instead of looking up, eyes filled with a slavish love, it looks down. It towers over him, dark and uncompromising. But it seemed to leave him when he debated, when he ruled. It left him alone and went to sulk in it's corner in these instances. Calypso had warned him, but he had not heeded her. The only time he had ignored her words. The sound of water slapping against the cliffs and the salty tang in his mouth was familiar. A love-hate relationship, I suppose one might call it. It was home. But it was the home where he had been hurt, where he had been ignored on purpose, where the oppression that set in. But that was only after what he had done. It had been orders, but...She answered him with a simple word. One that had been used by this very lion to deflect questions beforehand. Had she been deflecting his question? Or had she simply considered it so plain and boring, of no importance, that she wouldn't lower herself to answer it fully. There was more behind those darkened eyes, he knew it. And 'yeah' was not all she had been thinking. What if it's better this way? Well, how would you know? Sure, I know, you never had the courage to leap. I'll stop attacking you about that, apply a change of tact. Un...Cambio de sentido. Un cambio de sentido in the most literal way possible in such a diverse, complicated conversation. If you have never felt the love, never seen what it is to be truly free, then how can you tell that your cage of insanity is better? They all seemed to be in cages. Because was in his cage of misery, only now that Kishkir had returned he was blind to it. Azure was fighting duty, he had not commander and was therefore confused.

Calamity was getting older and he couldn't let go of his youth, he couldn't mature. Asaki...Was frozen in fear. It was a different kind of fear. It was not shown through the windows to the soul, or heard rasping out of the maw of spirit, even the scent was a forced calm. But it was all an act. I suppose we all have our form of acting, Ralos apparently felt that her insanity was better than facing the truth of thing: she was not happy. Truth--or Hurt--was also playacting. He didn't know himself very well. At times, all the time actually, he felt as if he was merely a box that had no idea what it's contents were. When he walked, he felt his soul rattle menacingly on the inside. Threatening to fall out or hit his insides with bruising force. It weighed him down, and it was starting to show. What happens when you have no idea who you are? Well, it's quite obvious. You let yourself go, go to seed, or simply 'leave'. You leave, in the least literal way that the word may be used in this simple discussion of politics and blood. His ears flicked involuntarily, as if he was afraid somebody was listening to his thoughts. Shifting his thickset body carefully into a more comfortable position, Truth tucked his tails neatly by his paws. Stretching his legs as he made himself lie down, settle down; both mentally and physically. Directing his mind back to his steaming train of though, Truth started it up again and purred slightly as the wheels pumped madly into near overdrive. Insanity takes hold and you let your appearance and you 'self' go in the most horrible way imaginable. Ghastly to me, fact to Truth. " Does manly man like flowers too? " Yes. He wouldn't have asked unless he was willing to discuss it. If he didn't feel like talking about it, he would simply not answer or change the subject. "I do. They are the perfect balance between truth and lies. They obey the seasons, and govern the animals. Pretty, merry and alive is the pansy." Truth had never much liked pansies, they made him sneeze. "Graceful, elegant, shadowy and sultry is the orchid. I haven't yet found out the traits of a certain flower though...It's hard to examine." He gave her a side-long look, piercing her in a way that only those flat, clear gray eyes could. "It doesn't like being under the microscope. I won't even bother asking you, because so far I've tracked down 'stubborn' and 'determined' as the predominant traits. Manipulative, yet subtly so. Cold, but in a charming way. Very endearing, as well."

A large yawn, more to stretch the masseter muscles rather than because he was actually tired. In actuality, it was well past eleven o' clock. Drowsiness was having a nap, and Truth's brain was not ready to do the 'shut-down' process by itself. He was like an international aeroplane pilot. A watch was useless to him. If he had one, his fingers {not that he has any} would be sore from resetting it all the time. His body told him when he was hungry, then he ate. When he was tired, he slept. If it was dark and he was wide awake, he would do something useful with his bulk. If he wanted a nap at noon, he would take it. His personal clock was way out of whack. Always had been, since he was a kid. They would find him running on the beach energetically at two thirty in the morning, chide him and then send him to bed. The cave echoed with his sighs whenever they did this though, and simply to get the rustling noise of his restive tail out of their ears, they let him go. It suited him, living on a beach. He was heavily built with large, soft paws. If you had compact paws that were small and stiff, you would sink in the sand dunes. A dog would die within hours. Lions such as our king here, were perfectly suited. His golden coat blended in with the sand, and his thick legs were trained to collapse in seconds to a hunters crouch. Prey did not seem to favor the beach, so the Pride members had to be particularly sensitive to noise so as to catch them. His flat, pliant paws were wide set and matched his shoulders. Neither duck-footed, nor knock-kneed nor pigeon-toed or even cow-hocked; our little man was perfect for living near the sea. And yet...Now he lived by an Oasis and a Desert? It didn't make sense, even to him. But he did what he had to, to get by anyway. Why was it that he lived where he was unsuited to? It was the same deal as 'Hurt', his shadow side. He did things he didn't like, because he felt he had to. Narati was an example. Why had he fallen in love? He hadn't, actually. It was all an illusion. Narati had merely unlocked the ability to feel emotion in him. Then she went and got herself raped. Wasn't it perfect? For her, of course it was. For him? Look at the nastiness he was left with. A philandering son and a depressed daughter. Who was to be his heir? He had elected Oedipus simply because there was no one else. Not because he was fit for the job. What was he to do without an heir? A sigh escaped his black lips, hating the fact that he was showing weakness. Not only because of his slow exhale, but because he showed that their had been a flaw in his plan. His Pride would be left to some rogue now...

[/blockquote]

there are always two sides to a story
Truth the Believer

[Valid]

ASAKi THE TRAGiC

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LETS TRY LiViNG TODAY
LiKE iT WASNT A MiSTAKE [/center]

So it seemed one of history’s noted are right? All the men and women are actors, all the world a stage? You know that was an interesting concept, and one she hadn’t really was introduced, fully, to. It was appealing, for she was a definite pessimist and thought the worse whenever possible. She thought he was lying and still felt as if his intentions were more then what he said, or presented them as. But lying was such a strong word and we know darling Truth would do nothing to cross the meaning of his name. His name which has been flipped and seen as Hurt? It seemed to fit. The truth hurts… and yet if one wanted to be honest living was painful and hurt. It was just for some the ‘hurt’ lasted a bit longer and was a bit more intense… But it seems his name was bestowed with prophecy? His mother had tacked on a story, an insightful, yet broad prediction to him? Yet, honest to anything and everything if one turned this over to Asaki she really would lack the interest and care. His name was but a name and he hung so seriously to it, it was a touch sad. He shouldn’t rely so much on it… [yet perhaps if she did, things would be all the simpler. Yet for some reason she was thinking like most do. The person who says they didn’t do it, did it. The one who is dubbed ‘Truth’ is really ‘Lie’.] but, perhaps she should mind herself. Just because her name was all the lacking and had no worth to it… Seriously, perhaps she should mind herself and put more into these ‘word names’. Perhaps she should believe Truth was a truthful, honest man. Perhaps she should also believe he was Hurt. Someone who brought pain and agony. In such case she should keep her distance and pay her dues and find her own way out of this? Mhmm… predictable as this sentence is… she was hurting all ready. And…

Another thing was she was surprised he continued this topic. But again with the virtue and the rest of that bull, she supposed. It was a fact she didn’t play fair and, foolish little her thought, perhaps, he wouldn’t either. That he would cut corners and forget a few lines of those policies. It wasn’t unheard of, in her conversations, to ask a question yet not be willing to talk about it once it rounded back to the presenter. Usually that was how it worked. Either they, or she, blatantly refused or they evaded it ever gracefully with ladylike grace or whatever skills they had acquired. Nonetheless she was keen on hearing what he said. Mild amusement that he liked flowers also, and that he admitted it. After all manly man must keep his image up, yes? He can’t let anything as sensitive and childish and feminine as flowers demeanor him? Or was he confident enough or was she insignificant enough that it all worked out in the end? Perhaps so, or as she thought most likely so but she didn’t mind. Didn’t mind bits and pieces of his words but the ending was turning sour. So ever determined, stubborn…? He seemed to describe himself. But only the bit about ‘cold’ disqualified it, and the fact she doubted he was vain enough to describe himself so or like a flower. Yes, he was definitely trying a new approach and the sad bit was, was this one was a bit more challenging and a little less… obvious. Which made it all the more deadly but enjoyable. “Mhmm… lilies and lilacs, daffodils, too.” She said in reply, returning his gaze with her own. Hers was a more devious one, a tricky one… A child caught in the tutor’s gaze, one who was not necessarily innocent but one who knew he hadn’t anything to pin on her. “Frangipanis are beautiful as well… and blossoms…” She continued, “But Frangipanis, my favorite.”

Everything was an illusion. It was what you wanted it to be, what you needed it to be. Hear what you want, see what you want to see. It took all her effort not to get into the thoughts of ‘perhaps this is a dream and I’ll wake up and I’ll be back in some other place and time and this… this will just be a horrible, misplaced dream’. Which it could very well be… if that was what she choose to think of it as but… Mhmm… Such made it hard to know the truth, the facts, the reality. It made it hard and in being desired to have difference, ever distinct… between ‘no’ and ‘yes’ and ‘reality’ and ‘fantasy’ and, even ‘truth’ and ‘lie’. She needed that, she needed those directions, that stability. Without it the basis of everything, anything… crumbled, didn’t it? It gave her a headache. Thinking about such things. Her reason, her logic, they couldn’t decipher it without chasing things around and around and around and finding no closure or conclusion. But as her mind wandered onto those topics it was also wandering onto the fact of how long she had been seated and how long time had passed. Growing numb she was, limbs having fallen asleep and she somewhat frowned at the sensation and the situation. She had stayed quite a while, yes? The conversation had dragged… so ever far. Yet… not really. Though it seemed like much progress was made she couldn’t feel as if much really was… the same was it had been such a long time but it really… didn’t feel like it. Shifting she woke up unused limbs. Rising to her legs, and throwing up a stretch. Claws raking the ground as flexible body curved and tensed. Pulling it self, stretching. Popping back into place and use as she hushed a yawn that was to come in compliance to his own. It was late… And because of it she wondered why he was not going to his pride lands. Was he failing his duty again, slacking off? Letting his wife be raped, and then his lands taken? Her thoughts were sharpened but mild and meeker then what would think. Jesting they were in a serious topic. It wasn’t any of her business, really, nor any of her care. Relaxed she was and somewhat… giddy. Hunting tonight, yes indeed… a grantee to be exhausted but not a certainty for food, lovely.

Having stretched she returned to standard stand. Throwing a glance in his direction, noting how he had become so lounged and content for sleep or the continuation of conversation, ready for anything it seemed. Ready for anything… somewhat disturbing that was, how tranquil he had ended up. Partly she wasn‘t settled with that. Nor with the fact that they had talked so long without her notice. But… what could she do? It was over and done with… And she was feeling ever lazy. “Sweet night, honey child.” She said, this time unable to stifle a yawn as it came. Jaws opening wide as eyes closed before snapping back again. Giving her form a good shake, and one last look about the plateau [especially in the direction of the sound of the waves and the sea in the far distance] the madam heaved a breath and her walk was started. Her stride distinctly feminine as body rocked to a somewhat long stride and common pace, moving around him she started off, and was gone soon enough. Prints laid and left on the somewhat moist soil as she traversed over the grass and down the rocky, stiff incline. Heading into the world once again and this time with the desire for food. Which, perhaps wouldn’t be so hard to find this night of nights where the hyenas did their work and the leopards and other predators went about their busy lives. Slaughtering animals and providing carcasses, mostly mutilated, that she could steal from.

[/blockquote]

iF ONLY TO BE ABLE TO SAY
WE TRiED AND iT JUST COULDNT WORK
ASAKi THE COLD

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