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[wilder]

[Backdated to yesterday]

[Friends from Aselia (aka not Yuan)]

[He promised Korra he would ask people to come, so here we go]

Yo. Some cute girl named Korra wants to go up to the mountains on Saturday to train, so she doesn't terrify ducks or something with her powers. So I'll be gone all day since it's a few hours ride.

If any of you wanna tag along or whatever, I won't stop you. Korra sounded excited about the snow up there, so there's that.

[....What he never said he'd be GOOD at it]

[/Filter]

[Zelos meanwhile is chilling under a tree near the duckpond, since the roof seemed lame today. He's got his hands behind his head as he rests again the tree, his legs stretched out in front of him. Mostly he seems to be watching things around him, still deciding whether or not he's glad to be back. The ducks are doing their own thing in the pond, though they seem to be evading him, even going out their way to do so and if one steps near it will even hiss at him. Because hey, they still remember him as the dude the tore up the place sparring with Korra.]

[Oh well]

[OOC: open post!]

Comments

[persequor]

[ She shakes her head mutely. Her grip on Nymeria becomes painful enough for the wolf to snap at her. Arya lets go reflexively and Nymeria backs away. ]

[wilder]

[yeah he can't blame the direwolf there really, that did seem to be like a death vice on the poor animal. He meanwhile approaches closer to her]

Trust me, I've seen a lotta monsters, okay? Even human ones. You don't even come close to qualifying as that.

[persequor]

And if I change?

[wilder]

Darling, even if you grew wings and a tail you'd still be Arya.

And if you feel yourself getting changing in your head? We'll make sure you still stay who you wanna be.

[persequor]

How?

[wilder]

We find a way. Wouldn't be the first time it's been pulled off by us.

[persequor]

[ Arya makes no response. ]

[wilder]

[....]

[Okay he really hates doing this in such a public place, but he's bringing out his wings since BSODing people need blatant reminders and says very patiently as he kneels down in front of her ]

Look, do you think I'm a monster?

[persequor]

No. You're beautiful.

[wilder]

[he snorts] Well, yeah sure. Can't argue with that.

But most of...my kind? Their wings are beautiful too, but they have no emotions, no soul, no humanity in them. They don't sleep, they don't eat and wouldn't even feel a knife hit them. And they'd kill anything or anyone that got in their way. Animals, half-elves, humans - it doesn't matter to them even if they were born human or half-elf too.

So am I a monster?

[persequor]

No.

[wilder]

Right. I'm not quite human anymore, but I'm no monster either. Even if others like me are.

And it's the same for you. Maybe you are a skinchanger, but that doesn't mean you're a monster - even if there's others like in those stories.

[persequor]

[ When I dream, I'm a wolf. I hunt. Everything falls to me. Rabbit. Deer. Men. What if they're not dreams? ]

Yes, Zelos.

[wilder]

[...then we're getting a lock on your door and not letting you play anymore violent video games]

I mean it! [points a finger at her] You're no monster.

[persequor]

That's what I said. [ Screamed more like. ]

[wilder]

No, you said you can't be a skinchanger because that's a monster.

I'm saying you're not a monster, skinchanger or not.

[persequor]

[ I'm not a skinchanger, Arya thinks before mentally scolding herself. Denying it won't make it any less true. She has already tried that before.

Looking down at her feet, she makes a moue as she nods. She startles when Nymeria deposits her journal at her feet. One of the covers is missing; the other is just hanging on. Torn pages mark a trail from where it had been.

Nymeria nudges Arya's hip in the attitude of a young child hoping to make a beloved other feel better. Arya smiles. She points to one of the pages. ]

You missed one.

[ Pinning the scraps of journal under her paw, Nymeria grabs the page and tears it out. Arya pets her affectionately. ]

Stupid wolf.

[wilder]

[Zelos meanwhile watches this display of Nymeria attempting to cheer her up, keeping his face even. On one level, it's sweet. Arya and Nymeria had some sort of special connection, he had figured that much out weeks ago. It was a bit like how it was with Sheena and Corrine, for years he watched them have that special connection that no one else could understand. That even he couldn't understand. When they were much younger, he'd have flashes of jealousy watching the two together...but he knew at least that it was a good thing Sheena had it. Just like it was good that Arya had a connection to Nymeria, even if he didn't fully understand it.]

[On the other hand...]

[His wings fold against his back, starting to feel the chill of the September wind and he shudders a little from the feel of warm feathers brushing up against him. Being different...brought trouble. Sheena needed that connection with Corrine because no one else would have her because of her differences. He was jealous because he didn't even have Corrine because of his. Both of them had been alienated and ostracized, and so were the half-elves and probably countless others across the different worlds.]

[The luckiest are those who are able to live out their lives as a normal human. Maybe Arya was no monster and maybe her connection with Nymeria was a good thing...but this was far from what he wished for her. She already had gone through enough, hadn't she? ]

[Aside from convincing her she was no monster, he didn't know what to do about this. Ideally, someone else would be the ones to explain that powers maybe aren't a bad thing or show her what to do...he knew that much about himself. Him even thinking of saying such things felt too much like lies to him.]

[persequor]

[ There is no "enough" in Westeros. Your life gets systematically worse until you really, truly, actually die.

Arya doesn't look up from Nymeria when she speaks. ]

Lady Galadriel said to examine the stories I grew up on. None of them really fit. I thought maybe that one because—

I didn't really think the filter would work. I hoped it wouldn't.

[wilder]

...Seriously? [GALADRIEL B( STUPID PRIVILEGED SUBURB ELF. He sighs]

Stories like that aren't always accurate. I know the ones I heard growing up are nothing like the reality.

It's not the fault of the people who told you, just the people who wrote them.

[persequor]

No one wrote them. [ ORAL TRADITION FTW ]

[wilder]

Made them up, then. Whatever.

[persequor]

If Old Nan made it up, why can I see the filter?

[wilder]

Well I never said skinchangers weren't real. Just that they weren't like the stories you heard.

[persequor]

How do you know?