Gaijin

[Shin]

Ryuku had stopped listening to the man after he ask him his name, Jasper Elek, not a name he had heard before. The man seemed to eager to flaunt his power, fix things with a wave of his hand. Ryuku didn't trust him. Then again, Ryuku didn't trust anyone so it was nothing uncommon. If the man wanted to lead the people and turn them into some great nation, then so be it. 'It doesn't have anything to do with me'.

Ryuku moved to where he was sitting before, it was a bit more cleaned up now that the man had waved his hand yet again. There was something off about this Jasper. But Ryuku couldn't place it yet, then would slip, and when he did Ryuku would take him down.

Tilting his head back to look towards the sky he let out a deep breath. How he just wanted to go home, but with the great disaster that took place, it wasn't possible. Ryuku was stuck here for now, until he gained enough power to make the trip himself. That would take sometime. And it frustrated him to no end.

[supernal]

It seemed a decision had been reached. One man spoke for one side, and another man spoke for the other. Together, they seemed to run the whole gamut of opinions and positions; one played the devil’s advocate and the other one, the one who had the power to breath life into this barren wasteland with a flick of his wrist, that guy seemed to have all the answers.

But who were these men? He had never seen them before in these lands and even a cursory glanced warned one immediately that they were both strangers. Not like him, not like Nero. Nero’s skin was dirty and covered in soot from work in the mines coupled with work at the smith; Nero’s hands were calloused and broken with hard work; Nero’s clothes were torn to tatters, stripped by the inclemency of these ruins. Nero worked with these people, he was part of these people. The strangers were not.

Hell, they could even have been in league with each other. That was why, when the crowd seemed satisfied with what had been provided them, when the crowd turned on their heels as one and began the trek back to their squalid lives, Nero was the one man that stood his ground, that faced these titans of might as a lion, even though he was a mouse.

“What do we have to lose?” His voice boomed outwards. It was not as powerful as Jasper’s, as he devoutly lacked the arcane prowess necessary to imbue his voice with such stentorian might, but it was sonorous in its own right. It was not magic, but it made the villagers stop in their tracks and turn about. “Our freedom.”

Cocking his head to one side, he sized the would-be king. His eyes, the color of faded denim or of a clear blue sky on a sunny day, had never been more scrutinous; he searched for flaws in the man, because it was too hard to trust someone perfect.

“What if we said no? Would you take back your gifts? If we denied you your request, to rule over these lands uncontested, would you take back the life you have given this land and leave us to die? Does that about sum things up?”

A challenger appears!

[luciandevine]

Lucian wasn't entirely sure what to expect when he reached the town. What he saw however, was what seemed to be a large gathering of people in the town square. He moved quietly towards the group, wanting to see what was going on.

When he arrived at the group, a few heads in back turned to look and him, and he looked back at each with a smile and a nod of his head. Even though they seemed wary of him, what with him wearing the silver dragon scale armor, and carrying three weapons, and a shield across his back. Being as he was taller than most of the crowd, Lucian easily saw the display of power as the man at the head of the crowd simply waved his hand, causing the scattered litter, broken peices of rock, wood, metal, tents, fires and smoke was lifted from the scene---leaving nothing but the broken-but-still-standing castle and houses. Hovering above, the debree and garbage was sorted into respective piles of their given resources and then set down in stacked piles in the middle of it all.

Lucian's ears perked up as he caught the tail end of a conversation.

"Although, I am no farmer. Will you allow me to aid in the rebuilding and construction instead?" Words spoken by the man up front. Lucian was still pondering their full meaning, trying to figure what all was going on when another voice rang out. from somewhere near the front of the crowd.

“What do we have to lose?...Our freedom. What if we said no? Would you take back your gifts? If we denied you your request, to rule over these lands uncontested, would you take back the life you have given this land and leave us to die? Does that about sum things up?"

Lucian didn't see how this dispute concerned him, so he was content for now to hang back and watch. The man from the crowd did have a good point. If it had been the man in the front who had caused the grass to grow, and the land to flourish, than couldn't he also take it away? Lucian remained standing near the back of the small crowd that had turned back at the late outburst. He was still piecing some of the pieces together, but his curiosity was still high, wondering how this would turn out.

A

[Raziel]

The creature, defiant to all things natural and unnatural, stepped along, his legs propelling him forwards like the slender spindles of an orb spider. The discussion had mildly piqued his curiosity, and when Nero spoke, he decided to add his own words as well. He awaited the other man to speak his mind, before speaking. His voice was falsetto, the underlying tone like that of a disturbed bramble. Scratching, shifting.

The creature was tranquil as it came to stand astride Nero. Its eyes reflecting its thoughts.

"You speak of freedom as though it is something owed, yes? Perhaps, just maybe, it isn't, yes? If you haven't thought about this, than perhaps you're missing the point, yes? This man, though I feel is unfit to lead an entire nation, is at least someone worth following, don't you feel, yes? I would just as readily give what I owe to the land, and I'm sure any of us would do the same, yes?"

It would smile a moment, at a loss for words beyond what had been spoken. Speak your whole mind.

"And why shouldn't we follow him for the time being, it would for a bit, yes? Would we follow you, Nero, yes?"

Taurva would challenge him, as always.

"Just a thought, but in any case, I know land as it knows me, and I feel that I would be of much help, yes?"

[marvel.]

The sudden arrival of more guests intrigued Aeschylus; it meant that the world was responding to this man's attempts at usurping either her people, or worse, herself, and she meant to retaliate if such an attempt was brewing. Aeschylus stifled a yawn, listening to each denizen's speeches, each one seeming to hold a fraction of the whole truth— which, once brought together would form the conclusion to their doubts, their answers, and their hopes and dreams; should such a thing exist.

The Lugarian couldn't decide which side he was liking less; the man and his followers that smelled of fallacy, or the rebels and their challenges of awareness, of self-thought, of awakening, of curiosity. Aeschylus couldn't decide, and so he agreed that they both entertained him, and that was his main goal. When Nero spoke he was unable to help the formation of the grin on his face, and only accentuated it with the removal of his hood.

His soft golden-brown eyes glinted in the reflection of the sun, his auburn-cafe hair hanging from the crown of his head. He was a handsome man, but nothing out of the ordinary of this crowd. He wore rugged, worn clothes, he had no fancy armor (none at all for that matter), he carried no air about him that would scream any unwarranted attention on him. He was a man, simple and plain, so far as they could see. Aeschylus remained seated, brooding his time still.

When a man decides to face his fears, is he less frightened or more courageous?

[Clint M.]

With a crowd of rebellion, it was a relief to find support---as few as they were. And why not follow him? Here Jasper paved the way for them to reclaim their previous lives and still they were scared of change. It must of been nice to live life as freely as they did.

Interrupted before he could even begin, the Gaijin's attention turned away from Raziel with a thankful nod and regarded the questioning Nero. A simple shake of head, Jasper's free hand lifting to show Nero his open palm as if to calm him.

"No, I would not take back what I have given. True, I would be dissapointed but the land I've come to find deserves every bit of what we give it. As for your freedom, I'm sorry. Anarchy holds no standards. I know you not as people yet, but commonly a person sticks only to themselves, striving only to better their own position. What I found was not some but everyone struggling. A roof, warm fire and healthy meal is what you need. What you all need."

[Shin]

Now that Ryuku had spoke it seemed others now had the confidence to voice their opinions, only after Ryuku had played a bit of the devils advocate did the humans seem to follow and come up with questions of their own. It disgusted him to no end.

"Like sheep..." He murmured in low voice to himself.

He had yet to decide his own course of action. Would he help this ... man, if that's what he was, create a kingdom or would he find his amusement elsewhere? His finger traced a pattern in the dirt and dust that had settled on the portion of the wall he was sitting, he listened but did not look up.

What did it matter if a kingdom was constructed here, it was inevitable that something or someone would just destroy it. Ryuku was bitter at the loss of the kingdom he had once protected, to learn that all those years were for nothing. And if human hands didn't destroy it, time surely would, time itself destroyed everything Ryuku reasoned to himself.

He continued to argue with himself, weighing the pros and cons of the possible decisions that were suddenly placed before him. So wrapped in his own little world that he completely tuned out the sounds of the real world and continually traced a figure eight in the dirt.

[supernal]

Taurva always had a way about him that irritated Nero in a way that no other man could. Granted, the very first day that the two men had met, Nero had punched Taurva square in the face, but Nero had hoped that the past could be put behind them. Apparently, Taurva never knew when to leave well enough alone.

“It’s not why we shouldn’t Taurva, it’s why we should. So he’s mixing some green up with the brown. So what? That doesn’t mean anything. That doesn’t qualify him to lead an entire nation of people. I don’t know who he is or anything about him. I don’t know his intentions or his plans. He has the power for it, clearly, but does he have the mind?”

Maybe he would have left off on his campaign against Jasper then and there. Maybe Nero thought that he had said his fill, had given the townspeople something to think about, and could get back to building house frames and shoes. But then Jasper had said something that he couldn’t ignore.

“Whoa now. Who said anything about anarchy? I said freedom. Not lawlessness, but free will. If you’re against that, then I’m against you.”

Behind him, the greater numbers of the mass nodded as one. Sure, there were a few people here and there that still looked confused, grateful for even the patches of verdure that Jasper had brought in his wake, but for the most part the men and women rallied behind Nero. Just like sheep. Whoever was disgusted by this had better make sure they don’t vomit, lest they become suspect.

“How about this. How about you help us all out without the promise of a crown? Like you said before, what do you have to lose?”

[luciandevine]

Lucian wasn't surprised in the least with the way the conversations before him had turned out. The man up front, the cause of it, seemed to think that he was entitled to a higher position because of the power he could wield. There was no question that the man had power. The problem in this case, had been the man's careless use of his power. He seemed content to just solve most of his issues with a simple wave of his hand.

Lucian had come across many men like this before, most far less powerful, but all with one thing in common, their careless flaunting of power when it wasn't always needed. It was true that the land had been devastated before this man had healed it, but with such a quick fix, there was no guarantee that the land wouldn't just wither and die again. If there was one thing that Lucian did know for sure, it was that this was not his fight. The man had power, and he could make a speech, but he lacked conviction.

Still, Lucian was curious to see how the people would react, and see how it would all turn out. He simply remained where he was, his blue eyes moving back and forth from the crowd to the man.

[supernal]

(OOC: Too long of a wait for me.)

[Exit: Nero]