ataraxion | 05 | video | we'll have you dead pretty soon

Entry tags:

05 | video | we'll have you dead pretty soon

[ Attention, Tranquility. Chase is in a hallway, a book clasped tightly in her hands, paper bowtie in place, stern look about her. She is not happy, but it's less 'someone's gone' and more like when she first arrived: cold, withdrawn and calculating. ]

Military protocol--and the standard form of my ship, the Grail Arbor, states that mutineers and those doing harm to other passengers are to be permanently dismissed. [ She lets the word 'permanently' linger before she quirks an eyebrow upwards, clearly unimpressed. ]

On top of the smiling ship, we have a scientist with missing memories--and a number of things unrelated to Tranquility's plight. The previous attacker. Megamind.

To put it bluntly: throw him out of the airlock or I'll destroy him myself.

[ That's not a threat, crew members. That's a promise.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He feels the smallest prick of something, something best described as a sort of jealousy--though it isn't really. War brings terrible things, as do rebellions, horrors unnamed. Bran knows that too well. But there is a small bit of him that still wishes he were a knight--but he is too crippled, and before that, too young, too young to be of much use.]

Does your world not have soldiers, who fight? Why must they ask you?

It has soldiers. [ Chase is smiling somewhat--calm. Collected. For some reason she feels like it's okay to talk about this stuff to Bran. ]

We have soldiers. It just happens to be that I'm one of them--I was raised to overthrow the Supreme Tri-Mage Wilhelm Ryan.

[She is a soldier. Even a squire so young is unheard of--there have been young princes and princesses in ages past, but always ruling with the help of a regent. He cannot keep the surprise from his voice when he replies.]

No one says that you are too young?

No. Fighting the Supreme Tri-Mage is my entire reason for living. The reason for my existence.

[ A beat, and there's a bit of a sheepish smile. ]

If anyone told me I couldn't... Well, I'd probably do it anyway.

[This makes very little sense, and hints at a destiny in Chase that Bran had neither known of nor considered, but-- a beat, and then he nods, once, and gives her a small smile in return despite himself. (And thinks of Arya, too, though he does not say that.)]

I believe you. Especially if you are trained as a soldier--even a small size can belie actual strength, no matter the knight you oppose. Does this mage possess a magic that you must oppose? [And with that, the unasked question, do you have some magic? Bran has always half-believed in such tales, but coming here has only proved them truer than even he was willing to believe.]

A mage is a race, Bran. Where I come from--but they're put on Heaven's Fence because God willed it, and they, along with the Prise, are destined to rule over man.

[Perhaps it is because she appears so young, or perhaps because the way that she corrects him makes him less ashamed, but Bran does not feel as embarrassed as he might usually at asking such stupid questions. And still, the things she says do not make sense, but he nods anyway.]

And you are to prevent their rule?

No. The Mages rule over Man as they see fit, but one has gone mad with power. Killing all of the Mages, turning them into horrible beings. It's then that the Prise are supposed to intervene, as per word of God.

[ She looks down, slightly sheepish. ]

But.. I want to know about your world, to be honest.

[She lives in a story--only of course it isn't a story, not really, not to her. It is still a marvel to Bran. There were such dramas in Old Nan's stories, but they were only stories, some more true than others.]

It is not half so interesting as yours. [He must tell her this first; he must be honest.] We have wars, and kings--and madness--but only men.

Only Man?

[ Chase licks her lips, trying to think of how best to approach this--it's difficult to her, because it's Bran. She likes Bran, he's smart and not easily fooled for someone his age. ]

Who's to intervene if Man rises up?

[He considers that question a moment, confused by its implication.]

Do you mean a rebellion? A king would. If the rebellion were justified and true, it would succeed, and a new king would be crowned.

And? Have you taken part of such a thing?

My brother is King in the North. The true king died, and--

[He is not sure of what he wants to hear, so falls silent a moment.]

Yes. They call my brother a rebel.

A family of rebels!

[ Chase's smile is genuine. ]

Me, too.

[He smiles, a little surprised at that reaction. Chase's utter seriousness makes it difficult to judge what she might say.]

Really? Is your family in your army alongside you?

I only have my brother. And Inferno, but he doesn't like it when we call him father--my brother, you'd like him. He's very strong!

[ Chase is excited-it's something she can't help, talking a mile a minute. ]

He's very strong, his name is Sizer. And he gets angry quite a lot, because he shares Inferno's stubbornness. They're constantly at ends with each other.

[These names are stranger still, but Chase is from a very foreign land, so Bran simply tries to remember rather than question them. Her good mood is catching, as is his interest in her world.]

But Inferno really is your father? If people are very similar, it can be difficult to get along. What of your mother?

I don't have a mother. [ Chase doesn't seem too put-off by this--she seems to be almost proud, though she's firing questions back: ]

Is having a mother nice? What's yours like?

[Anymore, surely she means that she doesn't have a mother anymore--which is not so uncommon as to be a surprise. What is a surprise is that she does not mind it.]

My mother is lady of Winterfell, and she's-- my mother. She's good and kind, though she can be stern if need be. She's very clever, and very lovely--everyone says so--and I think she's wise, too, though not in the way a maester is wise. It's more that she knows things.

Where did your mother go?

Lady of Winterfell.. [ Chase likes that. It sounds neat, it sounds pretty. ]

She sounds like a wonderful lady. Queen? I'm not sure how that works. [ She is, however, going to ignore the question about her mother. ]

[It is a very direct way to not answer a question, to simply avoid it entirely. Bran marks this choice but does not make comment, not yet. Instead, he shakes his head.]

My brother is king. If he were younger, she might be named queen regent, but he is King in the North on his own. The lady he would marry, she would be queen. [His nose wrinkles a little at the thought of Robb married. It is far too strange.] Though he will not marry until he must.

Where I come from, all the planets--I mean, uh, Kingdoms, I guess--are all in districts, and each district has a Mage leader. Or used to--but they all ruled with equal power over Heaven's Fence, so...

I don't think I understand what you're talking about.

In Westeros, a king is king alone, and his wife is queen when they marry. My mother was not married to a king, so she was never queen. She was only ever a lady. And my brother has made himself king--he is a new king.

[The number of kings in Westeros grows and ebbs and grows again, so it is interesting to hear of a place where that number might be more fixed--no matter what titles the kings called themselves by.]

How many of the mages are there in your land--how many kingdoms?

12. And 74 kingdoms. [ Planets are kingdoms, right...? ] Some have people in them, some don't. Some have legends, all are united. Even if it's under the bad guy.

[ She tilts her head to the side, though, smiling. ]

Bran, I want to teach you things.

[He blinks at her, surprised by that.]

What sort of things?

05 | video | we'll have you dead pretty soon

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

Re: [video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]