24th step: Quiet

[favorthebold]

[The feed switches on to a shadowy scene, a small room lit by a strong, crackling fire in a central pit. Saul is crouched close to the fire, poking at some fish that are spitted and roasting over it. He's telling a story, so it sounds: his voice is low, yet rich, calling back old memories.]

- by the time we pulled him out, he was as cold and stiff as the ice around us, and very much dead. As dead as you've ever seen a man. Not a scrape on him, of course, just cold, and gray, so gold and gray that his skin cracked if you pressed it too hard. I thought they'd leave him there, why go to the trouble and drag a heavy body back to camp? But the Northern savages, their ways are different from anyone else's. Hunger makes them less than human, or it makes them more.

Their Guardian gave him last rites - but not like you'd give a man. He thanked his soul like they thank the seals they hunt. And I still didn't guess. I was very young... well. You probably do guess, don't you?

Yes. They did have meat that night, even though that man got no seal. They call it compensation, the Northmen. They are like no other men on earth.

[He pulls a fish from the fire, and hands the spit to his companion on the other side of the firepit - Carmen.

He gives her a faint smile along with it, maybe even an apologetic one.]

Not most my appetizing tale, I'm afraid.

[The feed continues to run, cheerfully oblivious.]


((OOC: Coordinated with Jackie <3. in ur city romancin ur villainz.)

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[vile-queen.livejournal.com]

I thank you. It is true, our fields are different.

[She doesn't expect him to have a number. Not in his business. Carmen smiles, thinking back.]

The Festival itself. It has gained worldwide awareness and draws hundred of thousands yearly. It is the reason Harbin is no longer a struggling city near the northern border with Russia. And in a country that is struggling with deciding to remain in the past or move into the future, it is a tie to both.

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[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

[He listens with great interest. As always, her world sounds reasonably like his, but all the names are different, all the places. It's eerie.]

And you've come to steal hundreds of thousands, and the deliberations of a country. [He's teasing, though as usual, not without admiration.] And the country - what is its name?

[Offline] Does here look like a good point for it to no longer broadcast?

[vile-queen.livejournal.com]

I do not steal the people. [She's smiling faintly, knowing that he's not serious. It's almost strange to actually tell a country's name instead of dancing around it, encouraging someone to guess, but his world is different. He wouldn't have the name.] China. Or more properly, it is currently the People's Republic of China, neither belonging to the people nor a republic. But such is the way of names.

[Offline] I think so. People invading on their villainous intimacy, sob sob XD

[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

China... [He tests the name, then shakes his head.] Nothing I know, but no surprise there. I wish we had maps to hand - perhaps I shall make one, when the storm has died down and I can find paper and ink.

[He smiled slightly.] But misnamed republics I know well. A revolution gone awry? It always is.

[Offline] Shiny. And such is the way of the network.

[vile-queen.livejournal.com]

[Carmen considered for a moment before taking one of the charred sticks from the fire and blowing on it, putting it out.] Or there are simple, more elementary methods we can use.

[She drew an outline.] This is China. It holds Mongolia, here, and Russia is to the North of it. [As she spoke she drew on the cement with the ash. Slowly she drew her way through Asia, from Singapore to Japan to India to the Philippines.]

It is always more convenient to call something by a name with hope behind it than it is to rely on people to rule themselves. The revolution went entirely as the leader planned, it seemed, and an empire was brought down. It is hard to say if it was worth it.

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[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

[Saul followed the lines with open fascination, amazement even, occasionally murmuring half a word - the names of countries. The coastline was vaguely familiar, the general shape seemed to be the same, only its individual contours altered. And the borders, of course.

He tapped the area she named 'China' with two fingers.] There are several countries here - Hayru is largest, an ancient and mighty force, but its neighbors all call themselves nations and birth Guardians of their own. Here - [the west of the country named Russia, he drew the border with a cautious hand - ] is Betairun, bordering Lansikaa in the North, Hyem in the center, the Tabar empire in the South. Let me -

[Picking the stick from her fingers, he continued the outline to the West - the peninsula of Adalas, Meieve, Dwanland - and back around East, to the Southward jut of land.]

There, Ilyiga.

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[vile-queen.livejournal.com]

[She listened to the names that he said in return as the map was drawn. Carmen nodded.] Our 'China' consists of many provinces, all conquered by the fallen empire. Unrest has been stirring in many since Mao Zedong, the one who overthrew the empire, passed away.

[Easily she let him take the stick, now adding her own names. Carmen smiled as he drew Ilyiga. She'd already known what it paralleled; there had been too many commonalities to miss.]

It is called Italy, in my own world. A beautiful country. The architecture of both Ilygia and Italy are similar. [The smile broadened.] As are their masquerade outfits.

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[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

[The similarities were confusing and tantalizing as ever, the differences more so. He nodded at her first words, thinking that he understood - if both had common root, then the nameless bond may make the difference between China the empire and Hayru the central power surrounded by lesser lands. There was some link, some deeper current running where they were the same...

What she said next, though - the name, Italy - made him glance back up from the map, eyes alight with interest.]

Tell me more of it. [His voice was uncharacteristically wistful - of perhaps not so much, with the subject at hand.] This Italy. Is it a sunny land? What gods do its people worship? Is there also a city like mine, of canals, glass-shops and masks?

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[vile-queen.livejournal.com]

[There was one area that bothered her, she couldn't fill it in. But Carmen had been gathering information ever since the Bol Masque, when she realized that something was off. Her atlas had confirmed her fear - there was a country she could not remember, and no matter how she read about it, the information was not retained.

But now was not the time to stress over the hole that had taken her so much time to notice. It would make unfortunate sense that it had occurred with her death; loss of sight in one eye had been a rather small price, considering.

Saul seemed interested, curious. They would speak on the topic of Italy instead.]

It is sunny indeed, the former head of two vast empires. Its people follow a great deal of gods and religions, though the world headquarters of a major religion is in its capitol city, Rome. It is Catholocism, following one deity and many saints. It is from them that the Seven Deadly Sins doctrine comes.

And yes. Venice is indeed that city. It is sinking slowly, but it has lasted for many, many years. It will last longer still.

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[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

[He listened, no, drank in her words, face full of open fascination. Uncharacteristic as it was, he didn't notice if she was troubled, was not alert to any subtle cues - not now, hearing of a land that might have been like his but was not, but was elsewhere, so completely elsewhere that his imagination could not reach it. The names were different, some details of the history, the faith - but those were minor, as differences went. There was one difference that was much the greater, that was so crucial, his heart near skipped a beat when he considered it.]

And this Italy - [he hesitated, and it was testimony to the weight of the question that he didn't as much as try to conceal that.] It is one land? One country, whole?

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[vile-queen.livejournal.com]

[She could hear the importance of the question, and raised an eyebrow. There was no way to tell if it being whole was a good thing or bad. Taking the stick back, Carmen traced out Italy, including the islands.]

The country of Italy, whole. Capital, Rome. [She marked it.] While once many war-torn city-states, it was shaped by the Roman Empire. There was much war between them once again when the Empire fell. It was the wars created by Napoleon nearly thirteen hundred years later, a rather intelligent but overconfident general, that awoke Italy to the fact that it was stronger united, and steps were taken to reunify. They did not take long.

Now, approximately two hundred years have passed, and it is still one country, whole.

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Two hundred years! [The words left him in an amazed whisper. How long since Ilyiga last stood whole? His grandfather had fought in wars when still a younger man than Saul had been when he gained his Center. What did his bright, beloved homeland lack that Carmen's world have?

Would it merely take a war?

It wasn't like him, to dwell like this. It didn't suit him at all. He decided against asking more, though it took consideration. At last he raised his eyes back to her, remembering something else. His hand drifted across the map, North- and Westwards.]

And the country that might be your homeland...?

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[vile-queen.livejournal.com]

[She waited patiently. The possibilities that different worlds presented were vastly interesting and could not be dismissed hastily. Carmen did not know what his vision for his home was, but this could certainly change perspectives.

At the new question, Carmen blinked. She had not expected the topic to change so abruptly, nor was she prepared for this topic in particular.

For one of the first times in her life, Carmen hesitated.]

I do not remember it.

[Her voice was very quiet when she finally responded. it regathered strength as she spoke again.]

It came up recently, and I realized I remember not a thing of it. Searching through the atlases I have found gives me information, but only for a short time. I am not retaining it.

[Carmen shook her head.]

The last time I spoke about it was before the Incursion. I am lead to guess that sight in one eye was not enough of a price. That this too has been taken.

[While for the most part she was confident and calm, there was a part of Carmen that was very bothered by this. She'd lost one of her two possible places of origin, just like that.]


[[ooc: I'm so sorry for the delay. My laptop died Wednesday evening, it's hopefully repairable.]]

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[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

[As attempts to change to an easier subjects went, few had ever backfired on Saul so spectacularly. He had to remind himself, as he listened, that what she said meant something quite different to her than to him. She was not telling of a gaping hole torn in her soul...

But she had hesitated, she was troubled, she was unhappy. And he found that he was feeling something foul - a sharp and bitter resentment toward the spirits, who had a right to all they chose to do, but might not have done this to her.]

That is a heavy price. Heavy, even for a life given in return.

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[vile-queen.livejournal.com]

[She knew it wasn't the equal of him losing his country, couldn't be. But to know everything except one country, one that could be her point of origin... it was still a loss.]

It still could have been worse. But... I am also left wondering if there is anything else I have lost.

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[He hadn't considered that angle of it, and it made his resentment spike, almost physically unpleasant. He had no idea where to place the feeling, if at all. Could choosing be done, between the two loyalties that conflicted in him? He couldn't imagine...

He shifted his hand a little, until it was brushing against her, a touch of warmth.]

Do you truly remember nothing? [He gestured to the map again, trying to recall - when he had been in her mind, seeing this map, where had she placed that country that might have been hers?] It was... somewhere here, I believe...

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[vile-queen.livejournal.com]

[Carmen leaned into him, touched by the gesture. He wasn't one to make them often. That made the few touches mean all the more.

She studied where on the map he was gesturing.]

I believe you are right. That is where I have no memory of. I know where Portugal begins and ends and where France does. Therefore...

[Carmen stopped. She didn't know the name of it. With a shake of her head, she continued.]

Therefore, it can be assumed to be there.

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[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

[His hand shifted a little, fingers entwining through hers, until the hands were linked. It was an odd sort of reassurance, one she probably didn't need, but one that meant something nonetheless - proof that she was still solid and real and, though changed, not changed enough for it to truly matter.

Following her gaze and words closely confirmed the idea that had sprung up in his mind. He nodded. Perhaps it won't be worth much - but he'll give her what he could.]

You called it Spain. [The name said little to him, a snatched image or two from memories not his own. He couldn't endow it with meaning of his own. But he could continue elsewhere.] We call it Dwanland. A sunny land; proud men, hot-blooded women, bull fights, dances... a bastion of the Eastern faith, much like my Ilyiga, but touched by southern splendor. You have its look, you know. [He smiled suddenly.] Your hair, your face - I might have placed you from there, if you were from my world. And the worlds are not so different.

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[vile-queen.livejournal.com]

[Carmen looked down at their linked hands for a long moment before giving his a very faint squeeze. If he felt it, good. If he missed it, then it was no real loss. It was simply a gegsture of thanks.]

Spain. [She echoed the word softly, knowing that if it was the correct name she'd lose it again. Dwanland, though, perhaps she could keep and remember.]

Do I? [A smile played on her lips at his descriptions of land and her looks.] No, they are not. There are many parallels, but enough differences to be so fascinating. Do you know any dances of Dwanland? Perhaps they will not be so different...

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[His gaze shifted to her momentarily when he felt her hand tighten around his, not in surprise and without a smile, but in silent acknowledgment. He still did not take touch for granted between him and her, and did not want to. It added to it.

The smile pleased him, because it seemed as though what he had offered was welcomed. His Dwanland could not replace her Spain, anymore than her Italy - one land, whole - could replace his Ilyiga. But if he could give her anything that would offer her an anchor - anything to feel that the loss wasn't final - that it counted for something was good to know. He chuckled very softly at her question.]

I do, at that - in passing, mind, but enough to give the sense of them. I wonder how much I recall... [He hummed a few notes under his breath, the first steps of a half-recalled tango. His body would remember more, he thought.]

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[vile-queen.livejournal.com]

[There was much to learn. She saw the glance, noted it, but said nothing, accepting it. His presence was something she was growing accustomed to.

The chuckle, however, had her looking at him again. He was going out of his way to ease the loss, it seemed. Carmen was thankful. She didn't have adequate words, though. No longer did the map hold her attention. It would not help her in identifying ... the place whose name had already slipped away from her again.]

Perhaps there is enough remaining that I can respond to. Will you lead, Saul? [Carmen held out her other hand to him, ready.]

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[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

[She was serious about this. He was lightly amused as he rose to his feet, taking her hand.] Let's see, then...

[He was graceful on his feet by nature, but hardly fancied himself much of a dancer - his knowledge of the steps was functional, enough to make him presentable in the sort of social events that a high-ranking military man had to survive along with his battles. With her, it was his first time dancing for the pleasure of it, and he moved with the focused attention of a novice determined not to slip up.]

I learned this in Meieve, actually. They were trying to civilize me, I think. [He mused.] Here - your arm goes round my shoulders, like so, and then - [It came a bit more naturally once he picked up the tune again. The feel of their bodies moving together was pleasant and absorbing.]

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[vile-queen.livejournal.com]

[Dances held significance. She'd attended her share of elegant ocassions, though rarely for long. The chase was always on, always exciting. A chance for a dance without the pursuit, to simply enjoy the movement, was unfamiliar.]

Meieve. [Her eyes flickered down to the map they'd worked on together, landing on the region and lining it up.] And did they succeed? Of course.

[Her arm went around him and she moved close, reading the movements that were to come through his body's guidance. It was a very pleasant dance, even if it brought nothing to mind. Carmen avoided being disappointed, though. She'd had a lovely moment. It was not his fault that her own actions and scheme had left her missing a part of who she was.]

You move quite well.

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[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

I cannot fault them for trying. [The memory made him chuckle. That stiff business had been nothing like the easy fluidity they had here. He was almost getting comfortable on his feet.]

You move better. [He meant it, and she did. There was a basic elegance to her that he was missing - in his own moves, he reflected, there would always be something of violence. It was an interesting contrast, and made him eager to make that moment last. And to keep her mind on the now.] The things one learns in the trade of war and thievery, mm?

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[vile-queen.livejournal.com]

Having one of your capabilities tame for them no doubt appealed to them. Many miss the fact that the tame are no longer themselves, and no longer as capable as they once were. [More than a few countries had made subtle offers to her. Serve them, steal for them, and she would have a safe haven where she'd never be chased, where she could rest. It was much like piracy of the old days. Unfortunately for them, their offers lacked appeal.]

[Carmen smiled. She would agree, but she'd learned to dance for her own sake, not had it pushed upon her. That likely was the core of the difference.] It is enjoyable, no matter which of us is most proficient.

[There was a drive to his movements that she couldn't name. It was very pleasant. She nodded.] Governments are much more likely to reach out to one who may be alternately dangerous or useful, than they are their own citizens. War and theft. Both have far more gains than a life lived in peace and content, behind the lines.