poetry with amber imagery or something [OPEN]

[fauxmarth]

WHO: Lucina, various
WHERE: Maurtia Falls, De Chima, misc
WHEN: Early/mid-October
WHAT: assorted happenings
WARNINGS: labeled in subject headers



Maurtia Falls
Lucina's main haunts are still in this city of conflict -- same as it has been, those two and a half years ago. Gods, has it been so long already? So much else has changed...her, too.

She resides on a residential block in a rental house, and might be encountered in the wee hours of the morning on her way out to work, or perhaps on the rare day off, tearing up the sad excuse for a garden she'd tried (sort of) to maintain (and failed to) in preparation for winter.

Downtown, she frequents a cafe and pastry shop where she's made many a friend and good memory. Catching her before she hustles off on patrol or another duty is a great chance for a free treat and a chat...or perhaps a means of teaming up for a bit of crime busting?

At Helix, the base of operations for Aegis Force, practically her second home, she is constantly either at work or training for work. It's not as frantic and despairing as the month before, so she can be a cheerful spotter or sparring partner, or she can help with some kitchen chores or monitor duty! She also likes to take her breaks on the rooftop helipad, enjoying the cooler air as the weather starts to behave more like autumn.


De Chima
It's not a place she visits too often, but at least once a week, Lucina tries to make time to volunteer at the O'Malley Clinic. She's not much of a nurse, but if you ever wanted to know what it feels like to be bandaged up nearly immobile as a mummy for a simple scrape? She's your girl. Also don't you dare try to escape until treatment is over! She can double as a bouncer.

There's always a chance to catch her in the skies, as flying is her favorite pastime -- and it beats traffic. Hopefully she's not spying any trouble from on high, but if you're in a pinch, she can swoop down and lend a hand (or sword)!


Misc
You're welcome to put in a starter or come bug me @whyellewhy to brainstorm

Comments

[fauxmarth]

[it's not the most dignified landing she's ever had, but it's thankfully not that hard. honestly, her pride hurts more than her tailbone as he goes on. this man is...well, he's pretty stone cold, isn't he? brutish, but...resolute. there's something to be gained here, if she can get past the offense of his approach.

red-faced, her mouth drawn in a frustrated snarl, she gets to her feet.]

I just... [she clenches her jaw again, shoulders tensing up. whatever else she thought to say gets cut back by that, and instead her reply is heavy punches, herself doggedly moving forward with her posture lower to keep her footing. any attack on her legs or ankles is going to mean she just tackles head on to grab and throw the bat in whatever direction momentum will carry.]

[the_caped_crusader]

You're still young.

[ he talks while he braces, falling backwards with her aggressive punches. ]

Maybe you still have to figure it out. But when you're out there, where it matters, every decision you make can mean life and death. And you'll get angry, like you are now, but you always have to keep in control.

[ big talk coming from him at this point in his life, but he lunges head on when she pulls back to punch again, and grasps her by the wrists so he can throw her away from him. ]

[fauxmarth]

Guh-!!

[she twists a little faster to get control of the momentum as she's tossed, righting herself and floating in place. she rubs at one of her wrists, pressing against the sting that was left behind. that technique was...very practiced. precise, and almost completely unbothered by anything she had to offer in return.

this ought to be exciting -- she loves the dialogue of a spar! but...this is less a spar and more an interrogation of her quality. in that way, it's demoralizing. frustrating.]

...You're writing me off, then? Are you going to consider my...my youth, my inadequacy, that you see? As some smear on this team?

[inadequate? after everything she's battled through? it's nothing to other people -- especially from other worlds. but that doesn't mean it doesn't sting to be dismissed!]

[the_caped_crusader]

I never said that.

[ he replies perceptively as he circles again, pressing closer. ]

Is that how you feel? [ a beat. ] We were all young once. I started the path to find my justice when I was nine years old. It took me more than a decade to do it. But you don't have that luxury, Lucina. Not when you're on the front lines. Not when lives depend on your decisions. You have to think fast... and act faster!

[ he lunges forward, again with that surprising speed, to make a point, and to push her towards that desperation, he moves with a martial fluidity that wasn't present before as he attacks ruthlessly. ]

[fauxmarth]

You have no idea of my path!

[she brings up her arms to guard against the blows, having to bend to brace against the weight behind them, but she need only brace for a little bit before she sees some angle she can try to take advantage of.

she catches the next hit by the knuckles and holds it in place, her other arm still up to guard. her grip tightens as she pulls him forward, meaning to connect her elbow down upon his shoulder.]

[the_caped_crusader]

[ her blow is hard and does indeed bring him to his knees, but with decades of experience under his belt, he counters instantly, axing down with his forearm behind her knees to throw her back to the ground. he slips over her, mounting her chest, and lets his fist pull back above her face. ]

Then tell me. Answer my question before.

[fauxmarth]

[so fast--!

Lucina's on her back before she can even think, before she can even breathe, and when her vision comes back, much of it is obscured by that fist.

part of her wants to scream, another to cry, and...well, there is part of her that wants to push off all the emotional bits of this and just ask how he learned that move, but that part has to remain benched for now.

wincing, she looks past the fist, up toward the mask.]

My justice...? It's helping secure a future for everybody. I don't have one-- back where I'm from. It's gone. My only choice was to go back...back to a time when there was still a chance to change fate. [her voice thickens a bit at that. she swallows, then forces herself along.]

I can't tell anyone here what their future holds, or how to grasp it. But I'm going to fight so people can live to see a brighter one. All I have is now...to help make tomorrow a certainty...!

[the_caped_crusader]

[ his mouth is set in an angry frown, fist poised until it isn't, lowered down at his side until he rises to his feet and offers that same hand down to her. ]

You say everybody, but does it also include the people you may end up fighting? The future means something different for everyone, Lucina. [ a pause, waiting for her. ] I told you, we all fight for a reason, and some of them are worth listening to. As long as you always consider that, then I think that you can do that.

[fauxmarth]

[she doesn't take the hand right away, still squinting at him, as if trying to find some other meaning behind his words -- maybe some slight in her regard. she shouldn't expect that every time someone questions her, should she? and yet.]

...

[she does take the hand and hoists herself up with a little huff.]

I'm not keen on those I'm up against closing their ears to me...so I won't close mine to them. Not until there's nothing left to hear.

[the_caped_crusader]

We're not judges, Lucina. Not for them. Not here.

[ a pause. ]

I've seen the kinds of worlds that you come from. The darkness that exists out there. I won't say that everyone can be saved-- that's a child's dream-- but if you're strong enough to stop them, then you're strong enough to consider mercy. And if you're not? Then you come back here and you train until your hands bleed, until you are strong enough.

[fauxmarth]

[she squints at him.]

What do you mean, seen the kinds of worlds I'm from-?

[the_caped_crusader]

The multiverse is vast. Countless worlds exist out there, some where even our smallest decisions are different there, and it changes everything. Sometimes it's good.

[ a pause, and he's back to the heavy frown. ]

And sometimes it goes horribly wrong.

[fauxmarth]

...

[she turns partway, withdrawing a bit, rubbing at her wrist again.]

The beast that killed my parents...Grima, the fell dragon. That's what did my world in. He slept for hundreds of years before his worshipers were able to able to wake him.

I don't want to see another world fall to disasters like that. Grima, Atropos...

If Falchion still has any use at all, then it has to be to keep disasters like that at bay.

[the_caped_crusader]

I'm sorry.

[ a genuinely sincere comment, tone empathetic. batman picks up his equipment from the floor and reequips it. ]

I've seen those kinds of scenarios more than I care to. You'll be pushed past every limit that you could possibly have thought you already exceeded, but keep that spirit. Never let yourself to succumb to the easy whisper of darkness that Grima's worshippers likely felt before they fell.

[fauxmarth]

[it's a bit of whiplash, having him go from somber to aggressive to somber again, and she wavers a bit because of it.]

...I won't. You may not believe me, but...you'll see. I won't.

[the_caped_crusader]

You might not like my methods. Few do. But nobody else will push you the way that they all will out there. I know what my reputation is. But I'll take the hate if it keeps you alive, rather than your friendship in death.

[ he stops to look at her. ]

Do you understand?

[fauxmarth]

[she blinks, then tilts her head.

after a beat:] Does...that mean you'll be back to train again?

[the_caped_crusader]

That depends.

[ he glances over, no break (or maybe even a deepening of) his ominousness. ]

Do you want me to?

[fauxmarth]

Yes. [straightening back up.] I need to figure out how to move faster than you.

[the_caped_crusader]

It's got nothing to do with speed. It's about prediction. You have to be two steps ahead of whoever you're fighting.

[ a brief pause. ]

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Be ready the same time next week. I want to see improvement.

[fauxmarth]

[she nods, standing stiffly.]

I will be.

[narrator: she won't be, everything turns to shit.]