|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:30 pm
"It's a war the humans had," Famine said. "A war for their whole entire world. Isn't that amazing?"
A platoon charged across the landscape of his mind, racing through one of the vast evengreen forests of Eastern Europe. Machine-gun fire sent splinters flying all around them, but they knew they could not stop for the fallen. Those unlucky men were already dead. Their corpses would feed the wildflowers come spring-time.
"Something like that..."
He sighed.
"Something like your apocalypse..."
Pestilence's quiet was different. It wasn't like her at all. But Famine couldn't say that he minded the peace.
"It could never happen here."
Famine sighed, and shifted his weight on the ground.
"Dad can't even get a mercenary contract. I don't think- We weren't born in the right place, sister."
And ah, wasn't he jealous of those men from the books, with their strategy rooms and perfect uniforms and tea to drink while they moved units around on maps? Of course he was. But Famine had already resigned himself to the fact that there were some things he just couldn't have. There was no place in his soul for Pestilence's inexhaustible passion. He would never be an idealist.
"But if you try- mmm. I'll be watching."
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:54 am
A war for the entire world? That..that was amazing! "They had wars that big? -What was it about?" Pestilence cracked an eye open, "How long did it last?" The idea of a war that big was one of the greatest things she'd ever heard. And to think it had actually happened made it even better.
Her eye shut again as she attempted to keep focused. Stop the static from blocking the images and not get distracted enough to allow for the other voices to start getting louder again. The female grined, the tips of her tails wagging ever so slightly, as she watched the men get shot down. The platoon of men running across, not even looking back to the ones that had fallen. It was bittersweet and she loved it.
"Who exactly told you all this?" she was quick to question. How could her brother know all about this and she didn't? Who did he know that she didn't? He was holding out on her all this time then it seemed. Knowing such bloody stories and not even sharing.
"It could happen here, Famine. It could. -And Dad's not trying hard enough. I'm sure he could get a mercenary contract if he spent just a little less time with mom." Their father certainly didn't seem to be in any rush to get some mercenary work. Pestilence was not pleased with their father on that matter. Not at all. For someone who'd been paid off not to fight he certainly hadn't been doing much fighting.
She frowned, keeping her eyes closed, "Oh don't say that. It doesn't matter where or when we were born. If we want blood then we make it happen. Wars, sickness, hunger, death. They'll all hit one after the other when the Apocalypse comes. -So if you think we weren't born in a place for wars and destruction then you're wrong! It just means that this place will be a whole lot easier to destroy."
If people weren't into killing, causing mass destruction and wars. Then they'd never expect the Apocalypse to be true. They would all be so very powerless to stop it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 3:51 am
"I read. How else would I know things?" Famine pointed out the obvious. "None of Dad's stories make any sense."
Keeping a picture in his head at the same time as he conversed with Pestilence was moderately taxing, but not overly so. In a way it was the same as floating. One side of his brain had to take care of things like speaking and breathing and making sure his tails didn't dip into anything filthy. The other had to be absolutely aware of the weight of their world and the force of velocity. Without both working in concert, he would pass out, or everything would come crashing down.
"That war was four years long. One man got assassinated, and from there, different allies came together to support their friends, until no one could back out without being destroyed. But there are lots of longer human wars. One took a whole hundred years."
The scene in his brain switched to the image of someone's Before; a great dragon hovering over a battlefield full of hapless soldiers, dodging crossbow bolts and melting armor with his magma-hot breath.
Famine was silent for a long time. The sound garbled orders and tattered wings ripping through the air did his speaking for him. Sometimes at night, when there was no one around to suspect, he tried to imagine what it was like to be a soldier like those men. Famine felt that they must know what it truly was like to feel something. Thinking about them, Famine could almost touch the emotions that must lie in ordinary hearts. They came upon him like a sort of phantom pain.
"Where is our sister, in your Apocalypse?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 4:34 am
Reading? "What?!" her eyes shot open. That couldn't be right! Her sudden outburst was enough to break her focus, causing the voices to all come flooding back into her mind. "Nghh.." Pestilence shook her head, trying to regain some control over them.
Reading told of such wonderous stories? Why had she not known about such things before? Such knowledge might have inclined her to pick up a book. In fact such knowledge made her very much want to pick up a book once this reading minds thing was under control. Chances of her actually picking on up to read were still incredibly slim. She didn't have the time and it was still a book. The most she'd really allow herself to read were weapon contruction instructions, not much more.
"They have that stuff in books? That's...that's.." she was for once lost for words. What really was there to say? Though he was quite right about their father's stories. They didn't really make much sense, though they were entertaining to listen to.
Shuting her eyes again, Pestilence attempted to reconnect to what Famine was thinking. It took a few moments, but she managed it.
She listened to her brother speak of the war, reamaining as quiet as she was capable of. He spoke of how it had lasted four whole years, all because of one person's death. Wow they must have been really immportant. He then spoke of how there were many other wars, and one that had been a hundred years long.
The pictures in her mind soon changed, a dragon thing was torching idiots below upon a large battlefield. Was this the one that lasted a hundred years? Not that it mattered much to her. A battle was a battle, and they were all glorious.
"Huh?" Their sister? "I'm not sure. We don't see her much so it is kind of hard to plan how to fit her in. So long as she doesn't cause any problems she can be anywhere in the Apocalypse she wants. -Maybe we should go visit her and uncle sometime."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 5:02 am
Famine was tempted to tell Pestilence that there was no way her apocalypse could ever come to pass. There weren't enough kitsu for a proper war. Not really. They didn't have the correct infrastructure. And a single person couldn't provoke the kind of carnage that caused legends to be written in blood and historians to shiver in their beds. Famine could name a hundred logical reasons why Pestilence's dreams were completely impossible.
But... for some reason, Famine couldn't bring himself to eviscerate his sister's hopes. If Pestilence truly thought that she could make this dull place a world worth watching, then Famine wanted her to try. It might even be interesting.
"Don't worry." Famine's flat statement was not exactly reassuring, but it was the best that anyone was likely to get out of him. He wasn't the type for brotherly smiles or comforting pats on the shoulder. "You play with your weapons with Uncle Jack, or whatever. I'll worry about getting all the books read."
At the least, offering help of a sort might keep Pestilence off his back.
"We could go to them now. If you want. It would be farther from the Place." Famine let weightlessness wash over him and reclaimed his rightful place floating an inch or so off the ground.
"Or we could stay out here for the night. I don't much care."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:00 am
Had Famine told her such things she would have simply denied them. Told him he was wrong, and that there was no way such deatails would cause problems. If her brain would allow it, the emotion of depression would have possibly been triggered. Either way, she would not take the annihilation of her dream of an Apocalyptic world well.
His tone was not very reassuring, but that was how he always was. She really would have expected no different. It would have startled her had his tone been any different.
"That sounds like a plan." Her brother's offer was not one she was going to just pass up. If books really held such things within then perhaps his reading could prove to be quite beneficial. He could not only tell her what had happened in previous wars, but he could show her too, now that she could get into his head. With his knowledge of wars and her growing knowledge of weapons and their inner workings then this Apocalypse might just be able to come sooner then planed. Sooner then hoped.
A smile almost found its way to her maw, but smiling was not something she did. Instead a very tiny grin perked in the corners of her lips, barely visible.
Opening her eyes slightly, she watched as Famine began to float again. "I'd rather not be around too many people right now." Not until she at least got a decent enough hang of her telepathy. Sure she was controling it now, but like before, just one shift in thought and her control was promptly tossed out the window. She'd much rather sit outside for a whole longer, make sure her mind was fully clear before going to see their sister. She didn't need more voices buzzing around in her head afterall.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:49 am
"Okay." Famine nodded. "I'll go, then. But-"
He looked over his shoulder. The glow of the Place was still visible though the thick copses of trees they'd flown through. There was no change of anyone losing their way on the journey back.
"You should talk to Mom."
She'd helped him a lot when he was younger, and most of his floating involved accidentally flying into trees, walls, rocks, and furniture. Famine hadn't been embarrassed about the bruises, but he was happy to be through with all that bother. Sometimes he'd gotten wet. That was always bothersome.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 4:50 pm
Pestilence leanded back against the tree, curling her tails up as a makeshift blanket. An almost concerned look crossed her face. Talk to mom? That would take up even more of her planing time. More time that she really didn't want to give up, but as things were she really wasn't being given any other options.
She got this power from mom, so it made sense to talk to her about it. And the sooner the better. The faster she was able to get a complete handle on her telepathy, the faster she'd be able to get back to work. Oh so important work.
"Yeah, I'll talk to her in the morning or something." She nodded, droping her ears down and trying to get comfortable upon the hard ground. "Don't tell anyone about this, alright? And I mean no one! -You can't really hide this from Mom and I'll be talking to her about this anyway, but don't even let Dad know." The inability to control her power would be viewed as a sign of weakness for the time being right? At least that was how she was viewing it.
"And if any of my army come around the Place, tell them that I went to the moon to check for possible weapon launching capabilities."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:32 am
Hmm. Was he really going to have to speak to Pestilence's strange friends? Some of them made even less sense than Dad. And they were loud.
Famine flicked his tails in response to Pestilence's directives. He didn't take orders, but he'd take a few suggestions under advisement.
"I'll tell Mom where you went so she doesn't come looking."
And with that he was gone, eschewing well-wishes and cold comfort. Famine Lucifer Wilson wasn't that sort of boy. The night was young, and he could still enjoy the moonlight.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
