beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young [OPEN]

[counterattack]

Who: Law & YOU
Where: Aldrip and the surrounding area
What: Settling in, getting up to hijinx, with a timeline anywhere from shortly after the TDM to the end of the month
Warnings: Probably nothin'.

Prompts in the comments, some open and some closed! Please feel free to drop any wildcards in the comments as well if there's something else you'd like to do. Law also has a toplevel at the Day of Devotion log, here!

If you'd like to plot something out, you can reach me on discord at tarocchi#8388, or on plurk at astrologies!

Comments

[counterattack]

[ At first, Law only answers with a quiet, very gently aghast noise. Only gently, partly because he doesn't think it'd come across so great to go geez, what the heck?! and also because it doesn't really land as the shock it might to someone else. It just kind of tracks, y'know? That whatever went on in Shionne's life, it was probably pretty screwed up. Still, it's kind of a gut-punch to hear her say out loud. It's an even bigger one to hear the resigned sadness in her voice and not really be able to do much about it. ]

"Not surprising"? That's messed up. You're still... I mean, even with your thorns, you were still their family. You're still a person, not—

[ What, a slave? An experiment? It's kind of hard not to feel a particular sort of revulsion, that good ol' is there no end to the twisted things Renans are willing to do? Somehow, it's almost even worse, having heard from Dohalim and now Shionne as well that they'll just as soon turn on their own people. Their own family. For what?

But then he kind of has to remember that, under the right circumstances, Dahnans will do the exact same. They're not so different, in the end. Law sighs through his nose, shaking his head in mute disgust. ]

You didn't deserve that to happen to you, Shionne.

[thornygunner]

[She's touched that he's upset on her behalf. None of the Renans would even blink if she said that. Her family name was worse than trash. She didn't know why, but the Imeris line wasn't able to compete in the Crown Contest at all, despite being extremely powerful Arte users. Shionne has a bigger array of Artes than any of the Lords they've fought, but she had to escape Lenegis to come to Dahna.

It's a slap in the face to her family, of course, but she doesn't know why.

But they both know that their world doesn't actually care about what people deserve. Did the Dahnans deserve to be slaves? Did the Renans deserve to be masters? No to both of those, but things are what they are until they're changed.]

Maybe. Maybe not. Life doesn't work that way, but that's why Alphen is out there trying to change things, right? Isn't that why you're fighting with the rest of us? To change life for Renans and Dahnans both?

[counterattack]

[ It is what it is can only get you so far, and Law doesn't think he'll ever lose his taste for a healthy amount of righteous outrage. Tacit acceptance of the way things are spits in the face of everything he was raised to believe, and by this point in his life, he feels it's his solemn duty to stay mad. ]

Yeah, that's true. Everybody should be allowed to choose their lot in life. Renans, Dahnans... if we're all just following the rules of some stupid contest, then it has to end.

[ That's always been the heart of the matter, right? The Stupid Contest. As always, he'd prefer to keep things simple and digestible. If they end the Crown Contest, everything will be fixed. The end. ]

Alphen might be the big hero, what with the Blazing Sword and all that, but he got it from you. So really, in a way... we all have this hope because of you. You're making a big change for us all, too.

[thornygunner]

[It's his desire, his anger, to make sure that things change for everyone that mirrors Alphen's that she admires in both Dahnan men. Not that she's said it or will do so. She doesn't truly understand what it's like to be them, but she does sympathize and empathize with all of the Dahnans. Unlike Dohalim, her life hasn't been cushy and filled with happiness. So, she does get it, to a point.]

I don't disagree with that. Until we completely sabotage the Crown Contest, that's just a dream. [And deal with Lenegis's retaliation, but she does wonder if she'll be around for that.]

I...hadn't thought about it like that. [Freeing the Dahnans was always secondary to actually saving the entire system from the thing that still haunts her nightmares.] I always thought of it as using him and the rest of you to accomplish my goals.