The Civil War - 25/08 & 01/09 - Keros
Sept 10, 2023 16:14:28 GMT
Jaezred Vandree and Andy D like this
Post by Tom M on Sept 10, 2023 16:14:28 GMT
Co-written with Harry
After the medal ceremony, Keros and Rae go for a walk through the streets of Zot’Goran, probably not saying much for a few minutes. They take in the damage dealt in their absence. The city itself is a contradiction. Alcohol fuelled victory celebrations happen alongside Blue Sentinels working with regular troops to pile up bodies from the brutal killings that happened only hours before. People are dancing in the street as others weep for innocent loved ones slain by those charged with protecting them.
“Why can’t anything ever just be simple Rae?”
“I think we should’ve realised nothing would’ve been simple once we got involved with politics.” Rae steps haggardly through the streets, they try and clock each event of joy and sorrow as they move, eyes scanning the streets. “If we had asked the Blue Sentinels he's to come with us then things would’ve been worse here. That worked out well.”
Keros sighs and clocks a group of Blue Sentinels coming toward them. He slips off his medal and pockets it to avoid attracting their attention.
“And we did get her. We ended the war.” he looks at a pile of corpses covered by a sheet and doesn’t make eye contact with Rae, “Victory at any cost. Right?”
“I didn’t mean to... Keros you know better than anyone that this victory couldn’t have happened easily. It’s not about who had the strongest beliefs and was in the right, or who was strong enough to hit the other person harder. It was about who made the right calls at the right times and created the best opportunities. And all our opportunities that lead us to our victory were tenuous, and shaky, and we never would’ve had this moment again. And we’ve worked too hard to let it all go to waste.”
He suddenly shifts his posture and Rae gets to see something from Keros that they’ve never been on this side of before as the familiar brimstone smell fills the air. He doesn’t raise his voice, there’s just a low growl, “The people who did this used the same justification. ‘We can’t afford to take chances, we had to do it’. They told themselves everything you’re telling me before they did… this.” He turns to look at Rae, faint smoke coming out of his nostrils, but tears in his eyes.
Rae looks up at Keros, now with a genuine fear, not that he might hurt them, but that he could think of them that way. They tighten their fist into a ball and run their thumb along the ring.
“Do you really think I’m like them? Do you genuinely believe that? They were misguided and horrible people who hated those who weren’t like them. People like me Keros. Their war would’ve brought Kul’Goran to ruin. We have done everything in our power to help stop this land collapsing in on itself and it is so delicate. The people, these people deserve to their lives free and in peace. Not controlled by the likes of Antonia or Kyra. We have saved them and that can’t be jeopardised.”
Rae gestures an arm out towards the people celebrating, grieving, and otherwise living in the aftermath.
Keros begins to raise his voice “Rae after what you said I don’t know what to think any more. I look around and I don’t know what the fuck we even saved because this sure as the hells doesn’t look like the Kul’Goran I stand for! Just because Antonia would have been worse doesn’t make what’s happened here better!”
He simmers down, “Rae, you have to be smart enough to know why what you said scared me to the depths of my soul.”
“I am smart enough to know that the K’ul Goran you stand for is so important, I promise you I agree. But also I am smart enough to know that.. That dream? It doesn’t come about from one battle being won. Just because you believe in it and you won doesn’t make it the way things are. I think your dream is beautiful and vital but we cannot reach it without work. And time. And doing what we can with what we have.” Rae reaches a tentative hand towards Keros’ forearm.
“This K’ul Goran right now is not good, but it has a chance to be better, a much stronger chance now that the Behooved are defeated. That is what we fought for, and what we need to hold onto.”
Rae’s hand reaches Keros’s forearm and he freezes, locking eyes with them, his rage completely subsiding… but then he pulls away, his voice cracking.
“Rae please, I know that normally works, but I need you to listen to me. There’s a limit to what I will do for this country, but we both know I would drown us in blood to keep you safe and I was never scared of that before because I never thought you might ask me to. The biggest danger to everything I stand for isn’t the hatred of those Behooved in that jail cell.”
“It’s that I love you.”
Rae’s voice gets caught in their throat as they struggle for words. They instinctively start leaning in, then stop, and look at Keros in the eyes.
“Are you saying that would change if I had gone through with it?”
“No, Rae. I’m saying I don’t think it would have. I’m saying I need you to listen to me when I tell you to stop because if you go down a dark path I’m going to end up right there with you.”
Rae’s eyes well up and they fall forward a little, resting their forehead on Keros’ chest.
“It’s just so much. I’m trying to cover every angle and do everything I can because I know I can help. And I don’t want to make it worse.”
Keros, who had been trying his best to keep Rae at a distance for this talk, cracks the instant he sees tears in their eyes. He puts his arms around them and nuzzles the top of their head reassuringly, before holding them by the shoulders and gently lifting them away so that he can look them in the eyes, “Rae if things get worse then we come back and we fix them. We already lost this fight over and over again, but we’ve kept coming back, we’ve kept doing the right thing, and we’ve always had each other’s backs.”
“For all of the harms befalling this place I’m not one of them and you’re not one of them either. Okay?”
Rae nods and wipes their eyes, sniffling a little before regaining composure. They smile up at Keros and reach up to stroke the side of his face gently.
“Thank you. We will keep trying. Keep doing what we’re doing, the right thing.”
“And I love you too Keros.”
The minotaur beams brightly and picks Rae fully up off the ground to kiss them in a street full of drunken paramilitary and bloody corpses just by the city gates.
Putting Rae down... eventually, he gestures for them to follow him. “Come on, I’ve got something to show you,”
Rae giggles happily and follows along as Keros gestures.
He leads them just out of the city gates and along the walls to a stable of sorts containing an approximately 9ft tall and 7ft wide object hidden under a sheet. "Well, we probably aren't coming back here for a while and I know your birthday's coming up so... I got you something. I hope you like it."
Rae pulls the sheet off, revealing a hillsurfer with purple sails, then beams a massive smile and their eyes go wide. They give Keros a big kiss on the cheek before running over to check it out.
“Keros! You shouldn’t have! But now that you have we can make it known that I’m the better Hillsurfer, let’s have a race!”
*Rocky III freeze frame ending of the pair neck and neck in a hillsurfer race as Keros files this discussion as “resolved” in his head*
Continues in The Civil War - 25/08 & 01/09 - Rae
After the medal ceremony, Keros and Rae go for a walk through the streets of Zot’Goran, probably not saying much for a few minutes. They take in the damage dealt in their absence. The city itself is a contradiction. Alcohol fuelled victory celebrations happen alongside Blue Sentinels working with regular troops to pile up bodies from the brutal killings that happened only hours before. People are dancing in the street as others weep for innocent loved ones slain by those charged with protecting them.
“Why can’t anything ever just be simple Rae?”
“I think we should’ve realised nothing would’ve been simple once we got involved with politics.” Rae steps haggardly through the streets, they try and clock each event of joy and sorrow as they move, eyes scanning the streets. “If we had asked the Blue Sentinels he's to come with us then things would’ve been worse here. That worked out well.”
Keros sighs and clocks a group of Blue Sentinels coming toward them. He slips off his medal and pockets it to avoid attracting their attention.
“And we did get her. We ended the war.” he looks at a pile of corpses covered by a sheet and doesn’t make eye contact with Rae, “Victory at any cost. Right?”
“I didn’t mean to... Keros you know better than anyone that this victory couldn’t have happened easily. It’s not about who had the strongest beliefs and was in the right, or who was strong enough to hit the other person harder. It was about who made the right calls at the right times and created the best opportunities. And all our opportunities that lead us to our victory were tenuous, and shaky, and we never would’ve had this moment again. And we’ve worked too hard to let it all go to waste.”
He suddenly shifts his posture and Rae gets to see something from Keros that they’ve never been on this side of before as the familiar brimstone smell fills the air. He doesn’t raise his voice, there’s just a low growl, “The people who did this used the same justification. ‘We can’t afford to take chances, we had to do it’. They told themselves everything you’re telling me before they did… this.” He turns to look at Rae, faint smoke coming out of his nostrils, but tears in his eyes.
Rae looks up at Keros, now with a genuine fear, not that he might hurt them, but that he could think of them that way. They tighten their fist into a ball and run their thumb along the ring.
“Do you really think I’m like them? Do you genuinely believe that? They were misguided and horrible people who hated those who weren’t like them. People like me Keros. Their war would’ve brought Kul’Goran to ruin. We have done everything in our power to help stop this land collapsing in on itself and it is so delicate. The people, these people deserve to their lives free and in peace. Not controlled by the likes of Antonia or Kyra. We have saved them and that can’t be jeopardised.”
Rae gestures an arm out towards the people celebrating, grieving, and otherwise living in the aftermath.
Keros begins to raise his voice “Rae after what you said I don’t know what to think any more. I look around and I don’t know what the fuck we even saved because this sure as the hells doesn’t look like the Kul’Goran I stand for! Just because Antonia would have been worse doesn’t make what’s happened here better!”
He simmers down, “Rae, you have to be smart enough to know why what you said scared me to the depths of my soul.”
“I am smart enough to know that the K’ul Goran you stand for is so important, I promise you I agree. But also I am smart enough to know that.. That dream? It doesn’t come about from one battle being won. Just because you believe in it and you won doesn’t make it the way things are. I think your dream is beautiful and vital but we cannot reach it without work. And time. And doing what we can with what we have.” Rae reaches a tentative hand towards Keros’ forearm.
“This K’ul Goran right now is not good, but it has a chance to be better, a much stronger chance now that the Behooved are defeated. That is what we fought for, and what we need to hold onto.”
Rae’s hand reaches Keros’s forearm and he freezes, locking eyes with them, his rage completely subsiding… but then he pulls away, his voice cracking.
“Rae please, I know that normally works, but I need you to listen to me. There’s a limit to what I will do for this country, but we both know I would drown us in blood to keep you safe and I was never scared of that before because I never thought you might ask me to. The biggest danger to everything I stand for isn’t the hatred of those Behooved in that jail cell.”
“It’s that I love you.”
Rae’s voice gets caught in their throat as they struggle for words. They instinctively start leaning in, then stop, and look at Keros in the eyes.
“Are you saying that would change if I had gone through with it?”
“No, Rae. I’m saying I don’t think it would have. I’m saying I need you to listen to me when I tell you to stop because if you go down a dark path I’m going to end up right there with you.”
Rae’s eyes well up and they fall forward a little, resting their forehead on Keros’ chest.
“It’s just so much. I’m trying to cover every angle and do everything I can because I know I can help. And I don’t want to make it worse.”
Keros, who had been trying his best to keep Rae at a distance for this talk, cracks the instant he sees tears in their eyes. He puts his arms around them and nuzzles the top of their head reassuringly, before holding them by the shoulders and gently lifting them away so that he can look them in the eyes, “Rae if things get worse then we come back and we fix them. We already lost this fight over and over again, but we’ve kept coming back, we’ve kept doing the right thing, and we’ve always had each other’s backs.”
“For all of the harms befalling this place I’m not one of them and you’re not one of them either. Okay?”
Rae nods and wipes their eyes, sniffling a little before regaining composure. They smile up at Keros and reach up to stroke the side of his face gently.
“Thank you. We will keep trying. Keep doing what we’re doing, the right thing.”
“And I love you too Keros.”
The minotaur beams brightly and picks Rae fully up off the ground to kiss them in a street full of drunken paramilitary and bloody corpses just by the city gates.
Putting Rae down... eventually, he gestures for them to follow him. “Come on, I’ve got something to show you,”
Rae giggles happily and follows along as Keros gestures.
He leads them just out of the city gates and along the walls to a stable of sorts containing an approximately 9ft tall and 7ft wide object hidden under a sheet. "Well, we probably aren't coming back here for a while and I know your birthday's coming up so... I got you something. I hope you like it."
Rae pulls the sheet off, revealing a hillsurfer with purple sails, then beams a massive smile and their eyes go wide. They give Keros a big kiss on the cheek before running over to check it out.
“Keros! You shouldn’t have! But now that you have we can make it known that I’m the better Hillsurfer, let’s have a race!”
*Rocky III freeze frame ending of the pair neck and neck in a hillsurfer race as Keros files this discussion as “resolved” in his head*
Continues in The Civil War - 25/08 & 01/09 - Rae
