ataraxion | ▓ ０6 Ｐｔｓ．► video ► N0 mon5t3rs here, k!d

[Takeshi is near the front doors of the oxygen gardens, because some people would totally have a heatherfit if he were far off in the halls. Which he was, but shhh, we don't need to let Ned or Heather know that.]

Don't fight!!

Don't fight each other, there are real monsters to fight--don't fight pirates! Pirates, please don't fight, too! --why are we all not getting along? There are scary things we can stop together; we can give each other stuff. We can be really smart and not hurt each other!

[Huff--this is hopeless, but he hates how scared or angry people are. And if not those two, then too willing to fight people who could have easily been with them.

Hitting someone who hurts your friends, he gets. Hitting a monster, he gets.

But--when did it end up where you're enemies just because?]

I saw some of the pirates. They talked to me before. They talked to you, too! Some might be bad, but maybe they're not bad; maybe they're just playing the game, and they're scared of losing. They're just trying to get their points so they don't die. [What, that makes total sense. To him it does, anyway.]

I--maybe I can talk to them. Maybe we can talk and make this better. People're getting hurt.

And stealing is wrong. Stop stealing from us! Stop shooting stuff! Why're we fighting if we don't got any reason to fight? We're not monsters. Nobody's monsters. Why are we fighting when we're all not monsters??

....

We're all just people...

... I don't get it...

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But--! What did he do after that?? He's caught!

[Because Takeshi has no concept of how stories tend to roll out; really, people who get caught tend to be royally doomed! Don't they? Aren't they, though?]

Edited 2013-04-28 00:58 (UTC)

That's right, he was. Our hero was in dire straits. The cruel lord decided that on the wedding day, in just a week's time, he would have the outlaw hanged in order to bring luck to his marriage. A week later, Robin was taken back onto the dais, this time in front of a crowd from the villages and towns that revered him. In among them, Robin spied the dark green cloaks which helped his men hide among the trees of the forest.

A rope was put around his throat and the lord stepped onto the dais, and as Robin fell, the best archer in his group - his own prodigy - put an arrow through the rope and broke it apart. Then the villagers rose up. They overwhelmed the guards, they struck down the cruel lord and they took the castle, and with it their peace.

The very next day, Robin married the pretty maiden, and together they lived happily ever after.

[ Not quite, but a story should have a happy ending. ]

[A breath of relief--he was due for watery eyes at the falling bit. But thank god, good ending. Takeshi strives too often to find those.]

And nobody had to be sad again... They could be happy--and have the things they wanted?

... I hope that happens when I go home.

[ He nods, understanding. He feels the same way. ]

The point is that Robin earned the respect of the people by putting them above himself, and they rewarded him in the end. If you go around bullying the helpless, taking everything that they need and leaving them to starve, they won't reward you with a happy ending, but generosity of spirit is enough of a reward on its own.

Do you think these pirates have a generous spirit, Takeshi?

...

[He shrugs, looking down, though it's pretty obvious he's thinking--no, probably not. They don't like sharing, anyway.]

Don't get me wrong, Takeshi. I don't think of them as though they're the cruel lord and his men. It isn't like that at all. They're more like the starving villagers, and Robin sparing some part of what he has to feed them.

But where the villagers and the pirates differ is that one accepts only what is fair and honest, and the other takes the food even out of the mouths of others suffering, just like them.

We can afford to be compassionate, but not where it lets others take advantage of us. It would be like the villagers selling Robin off to the cruel lord, don't you think?

[Takeshi has a hard time following--he wants to, he really does, but he's not yet at the point where he gets it like a snap of the fingers, or a sudden ray of clarity. But even with all his hesitancy, he understands that letting them take is bad; they wanna take too much. He gets that.]

I don't want any of my friends to go hungry...

[He frowns deeply.It's a lose-lose situation, basically. But he at least agrees to some extent there.]

Nobody does.

[ He sounds apologetic. ]

Takeshi, whatever happens in the next few days, the only thing you need to remember is that everyone is afraid, and that when people are afraid, they sometimes do things that they regret. They might even hurt you, and not mean it.

... Because they're scared and they make mistakes?

Exactly right. And even good people might hurt you by accident, when they're scared. Do you understand?

I understand...!

[why didnt everyone just say that from the get-go

that makes so much sense]

Good. Now you be careful, Takeshi. I'll be expecting a report when this is all over about how careful you were.

Sir, yessir! I'll report!

I'll be so careful. But you gotta be, too.

I'll do my best, don't you worry about that. I'll look forward to hearing from you, okay? Take care now.

▓ ０6 Ｐｔｓ．► video ► N0 mon5t3rs here, k!d

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