[ it was cruel of forneus, to bring them here, to a place that would hit so close to home for so many. of course, that was the entire point - to prey on their sympathies and use it to convince them all to help - but it certainly isn't improving his opinion. as far as he's concerned, it's just manipulation.
(and anything that hurts any of the few that ookurikara cares about is worth at least ten more strikes against him.)
lasting peace, a world without wars - it might be nice to see. but whether destroying the gods of this world will really make that possible remains to be seen, and when it comes down to it, kara will always prioritize his family, even over the possibility of peace. ]
We don't have to stay.
[ he may not know firsthand the sort of things that this place makes tsurumaru feel, but he can guess. and so he has to offer an out, just once. let someone else deal with this instead. ]
(A mission. To protect history. To get home to their master and friends. How far all of that extends has always been for them to determine on their own, )
...
(A chance to leave. An escape from something unpleasant. He can recognize a way out when he sees it and yet
He's always hated leaving.)
No, we don't. (Have to stay, that is, but he won't say anything else about it. He's never been one to really talk about how he really feels. Instead, he steps closer to Kara, where it's warm and feels better.) We don't have to leave yet either.
[ there's nothing tying them here, if forneus is true to his word. an agreement they don't remember making means little to ookurikara - what does matter is how they move forward from here.
if tsuru doesn't want to leave, they won't leave. not yet. it doesn't sit well with ookurikara, displeasure coiling in his stomach like a knot. but he doesn't argue, and he doesn't pull away. his only outward reaction is a flex of his hand, the flames starting to twist into a new shape before flickering and curling back into a little fireball. ]
Whether it's to achieve the desired outcome or the one that is meant to be, repeating time, again and again, will create a burden that someone has to endure.
(Like a vessel. He wonders if Ookurikara knows about that though and watches him curiously for a moment to gauge his reaction before continuing,)
We aren't the only ones that protect history. (Holding both hands close to the flame as they grow and change, a physical guide to remind him to keep calm and in control, lest others become hurt. Not that he's ever worried about being hurt, ) And you know our way isn't the only one... some might even think we're the ones who are wrong.
(Like the Kebiishi, who protect indiscriminately and without exception.)
But because we understand history, we know we're right. Can we say the same here?
(When they don't really understand the world? The history?)
[ there isn't much of a reaction, just a soft exhale as kara closes his eyes. the vessel... he's already confirmed for himself who it is, but it still makes him uneasy, knowing one person is bearing all of this for the sake of a cause he doesn't believe in. ]
We don't belong here. It seems like he's counting on that, on all of us accepting that he's right because we don't know enough to argue. He could manipulate whatever he likes, leave out crucial information or twist something else to suit his needs, and none of us would be the wiser. We can't trust that.
[ blindly accepting whatever is set in front of him has never been ookurikara's way of doing things. ]
(Two sides to an argument and truthfully, it's the second he leans more towards but it would be dishonest to say he wasn't completely unconvinced by the other... but there's no reason for Ookurikara to know that or for Tsurumaru to admit that much out loud. )
Then we don't trust him. (Easy. Or rather, not as easy as it sounds given they don't have much to go off of but if he makes it sound easy, it'll make Kara worry less than it would if he made it sound like it was troublesome,) And we carry on as we have.
[ it isn't as simple as tsuru makes it sound. the thing is... even ookurikara can't bring himself to oppose the cause as zhongli explained it. so technicalities and trust issues aside, choice means everything to him, enough to argue with his current master here and there, so why wouldn't he be in favor of freeing the people here?
but altering history, turning a whole world on its head would be a complicated, intricate thing, and committing to that will take more than one person's word.
still, there's something comforting in tsurumaru paring it all down like this. it's easier, when it means kara doesn't have to think too hard about the tightness in his chest, so he leans into it, and accepts tsuru's words as if they are fact. carry on like they have... that, he can do. ]
Sharing information, keeping others safe, making sure they're warm...
(He could keep listing. He could be more specific. And he maintains eye contact with Kara the entire time to let him know he can and will if he has to.)
I'm sure everyone appreciates it. (And a quick head pat,) As they should.
(Because Ookurikara is a good sword. A good spirit.
In comparison?? Tsuru has made people uncomfortable and just generally been chaotic so???)
Is that all? (Is it really, Kara? Well, he won't press it anymore than that but he's letting you know that he knows.) Well, we'll have to make sure everyone is taken care of until we can go home.
[ HE WILL KEEP DODGING until tsuru stops and then he can have warmth rights again
at any rate, he doesn't answer immediately. silence stretches between them, enough that it seems like ookurikara has nothing more to say. quiet has never bothered him the way it does tsuru, after all - he can sit in silence for hours and be at peace, if anyone around him would allow it.
it's only after a long, long pause that kara speaks again, voice quiet: ]
The one bearing all that extra time... they said that they wanted to create a lasting peace, with no more war.
[ and where would he even begin unravel the complicated feelings in his heart about that? ]
(Warm rights trump menacing on a frozen death mountain you win this time, Ookurikara.
In comparison, Tsurumaru has a mixed relationship with silence. Sometimes it's nice and puts him at ease and other times, it makes him restless and fills him with a desire to do something to break it. This time, it falls somewhere in between. He doesn't mind the silence so much when he knows it isn't going to last. So he waits, lets himself warm up next to Kara, and finally, when he speaks, he makes sure to listen carefully, to hear his words and feel their weight.
His heart beats hard in his chest, a pang of something twisting at his core. He's a passive spirit, the type that is content to sit back and observe, to follow orders and to just go about his days without want... or at least, without expressing it out loud.
If there was something he wanted
One thing he really desired
It was... p e a c e
He bottles it up. Covers it with more layers. Wraps it up carefully and tucks it away.
After a moment of silence that probably feels longer than it really is, he replies calmly,)
[ how many humans have dreamed of peace? how many take up their swords and spears to wage war for the sake of ending it? and how many spirits have bathed their steel in red, hoping that the day may come that they will no longer be needed at all - that they won't simply be reduced to works of art and replaced with newer, stronger weapons, but that they may not ever hear the sounds of war again?
zhongli isn't the first. neither is ishikirimaru, or nobuyasu, or gohei. when it comes to this simple wish they share, there is nothing unique about them - except, perhaps, the belief of whether it can truly come to be someday. for ookurikara, however, it's hard to imagine believing comes so easily, when it means the end of everything they've known, sword spirit, god, or human. ]
But he seems to believe that they can actually achieve it here.
[ a question goes unasked, one kara can't bring himself to voice again, for fear of allowing himself to hope too much. that's always been the core of why he acts the way he does, isn't it - while tsurumaru escapes that through surprises and tricks and games, ookurikara escapes by pulling away, and never allowing himself to get close at all, lest it slip through his fingers again, as everything he wants always seems to do.
but his heart still wants to know: is a world without war even possible? what will become of them, if it is? does that even matter, in the end?
tsurumaru won't have those answers, but no one else would even hear those questions, so there is no one better to trust them with. ]
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This isn't our world. What I think of his plans doesn't matter.
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Even if it's the only way home?
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If what he said is true, he can send us home anytime he wants.
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(Like the lull in a very long mission.)
We wait and observe...
(Even if it hurts.)
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This isn't our mission.
[ it was cruel of forneus, to bring them here, to a place that would hit so close to home for so many. of course, that was the entire point - to prey on their sympathies and use it to convince them all to help - but it certainly isn't improving his opinion. as far as he's concerned, it's just manipulation.
(and anything that hurts any of the few that ookurikara cares about is worth at least ten more strikes against him.)
lasting peace, a world without wars - it might be nice to see. but whether destroying the gods of this world will really make that possible remains to be seen, and when it comes down to it, kara will always prioritize his family, even over the possibility of peace. ]
We don't have to stay.
[ he may not know firsthand the sort of things that this place makes tsurumaru feel, but he can guess. and so he has to offer an out, just once. let someone else deal with this instead. ]
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(A mission. To protect history. To get home to their master and friends. How far all of that extends has always been for them to determine on their own, )
...
(A chance to leave. An escape from something unpleasant. He can recognize a way out when he sees it and yet
He's always hated leaving.)
No, we don't. (Have to stay, that is, but he won't say anything else about it. He's never been one to really talk about how he really feels. Instead, he steps closer to Kara, where it's warm and feels better.) We don't have to leave yet either.
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[ there's nothing tying them here, if forneus is true to his word. an agreement they don't remember making means little to ookurikara - what does matter is how they move forward from here.
if tsuru doesn't want to leave, they won't leave. not yet. it doesn't sit well with ookurikara, displeasure coiling in his stomach like a knot. but he doesn't argue, and he doesn't pull away. his only outward reaction is a flex of his hand, the flames starting to twist into a new shape before flickering and curling back into a little fireball. ]
You haven't said what you think of his plans.
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(Like a vessel. He wonders if Ookurikara knows about that though and watches him curiously for a moment to gauge his reaction before continuing,)
We aren't the only ones that protect history. (Holding both hands close to the flame as they grow and change, a physical guide to remind him to keep calm and in control, lest others become hurt. Not that he's ever worried about being hurt, ) And you know our way isn't the only one... some might even think we're the ones who are wrong.
(Like the Kebiishi, who protect indiscriminately and without exception.)
But because we understand history, we know we're right. Can we say the same here?
(When they don't really understand the world? The history?)
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[ there isn't much of a reaction, just a soft exhale as kara closes his eyes. the vessel... he's already confirmed for himself who it is, but it still makes him uneasy, knowing one person is bearing all of this for the sake of a cause he doesn't believe in. ]
We don't belong here. It seems like he's counting on that, on all of us accepting that he's right because we don't know enough to argue. He could manipulate whatever he likes, leave out crucial information or twist something else to suit his needs, and none of us would be the wiser. We can't trust that.
[ blindly accepting whatever is set in front of him has never been ookurikara's way of doing things. ]
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Then we don't trust him. (Easy. Or rather, not as easy as it sounds given they don't have much to go off of but if he makes it sound easy, it'll make Kara worry less than it would if he made it sound like it was troublesome,) And we carry on as we have.
... You've been helpful.
(HE'S SEEN U CARING ABOUT DRAGONS)
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but altering history, turning a whole world on its head would be a complicated, intricate thing, and committing to that will take more than one person's word.
still, there's something comforting in tsurumaru paring it all down like this. it's easier, when it means kara doesn't have to think too hard about the tightness in his chest, so he leans into it, and accepts tsuru's words as if they are fact. carry on like they have... that, he can do. ]
...Helpful how?
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(He could keep listing. He could be more specific. And he maintains eye contact with Kara the entire time to let him know he can and will if he has to.)
I'm sure everyone appreciates it. (And a quick head pat,) As they should.
(Because Ookurikara is a good sword. A good spirit.
In comparison?? Tsuru has made people uncomfortable and just generally been chaotic so???)
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None of us will get much further if they die. There aren't enough Pyro visions in this camp to avoid it.
[ that's it that's his excuse ]
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Is that all? (Is it really, Kara? Well, he won't press it anymore than that but he's letting you know that he knows.) Well, we'll have to make sure everyone is taken care of until we can go home.
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Once we're off this mountain, they can handle themselves.
[ he refuses to be responsible for all of these people until they go home, that's way too much associating with others for this dragon. ]
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Then we'll have to take advantage of your kindness while we can~
(Whether he gets his hands on Kara's hair or not, he eventually does give up to just stay close to Kara. Ah, he has to warm up again.)
Is there anything else worrying you, Kara?
(Before Tsuru drags them back to camp to be around p e o p l e.)
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at any rate, he doesn't answer immediately. silence stretches between them, enough that it seems like ookurikara has nothing more to say. quiet has never bothered him the way it does tsuru, after all - he can sit in silence for hours and be at peace, if anyone around him would allow it.
it's only after a long, long pause that kara speaks again, voice quiet: ]
The one bearing all that extra time... they said that they wanted to create a lasting peace, with no more war.
[ and where would he even begin unravel the complicated feelings in his heart about that? ]
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In comparison, Tsurumaru has a mixed relationship with silence. Sometimes it's nice and puts him at ease and other times, it makes him restless and fills him with a desire to do something to break it. This time, it falls somewhere in between. He doesn't mind the silence so much when he knows it isn't going to last. So he waits, lets himself warm up next to Kara, and finally, when he speaks, he makes sure to listen carefully, to hear his words and feel their weight.
His heart beats hard in his chest, a pang of something twisting at his core. He's a passive spirit, the type that is content to sit back and observe, to follow orders and to just go about his days without want... or at least, without expressing it out loud.
If there was something he wanted
One thing he really desired
It was... p e a c e
He bottles it up. Covers it with more layers. Wraps it up carefully and tucks it away.
After a moment of silence that probably feels longer than it really is, he replies calmly,)
He wouldn't be the first.
(And he won't be the last, either.)
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No.
[ how many humans have dreamed of peace? how many take up their swords and spears to wage war for the sake of ending it? and how many spirits have bathed their steel in red, hoping that the day may come that they will no longer be needed at all - that they won't simply be reduced to works of art and replaced with newer, stronger weapons, but that they may not ever hear the sounds of war again?
zhongli isn't the first. neither is ishikirimaru, or nobuyasu, or gohei. when it comes to this simple wish they share, there is nothing unique about them - except, perhaps, the belief of whether it can truly come to be someday. for ookurikara, however, it's hard to imagine believing comes so easily, when it means the end of everything they've known, sword spirit, god, or human. ]
But he seems to believe that they can actually achieve it here.
[ a question goes unasked, one kara can't bring himself to voice again, for fear of allowing himself to hope too much. that's always been the core of why he acts the way he does, isn't it - while tsurumaru escapes that through surprises and tricks and games, ookurikara escapes by pulling away, and never allowing himself to get close at all, lest it slip through his fingers again, as everything he wants always seems to do.
but his heart still wants to know: is a world without war even possible? what will become of them, if it is? does that even matter, in the end?
tsurumaru won't have those answers, but no one else would even hear those questions, so there is no one better to trust them with. ]