becomeanwarrior | [Private Threads of Various Stripes]

[ That's good - if nothing else, that means Black Rose doesn't think I'm a threat, even if they're going to panic. That's good enough for me.

Once he gets inside the shelter, he'll take stock. Packaged meals, water, a bed... necessary staples, though not more than that.

He won't go and shake them, he'll just sit opposite their spot on the bed as they meditate. Give them a few moments to take notice of someone else in their midst, before he speaks up, loud and clearly. ]

Samasu Sadame, I presume.

... In a sense of the word, sure. *dang, ignoring him doesn't work, huh.

They take a deep breath, before sitting up properly, stretching, and then finally opening their eye-- oh, it's you, specifically. the one I mistook for someone else.*

Are you here to take me away?

[ You know better than that, that he's the stubborn type, I'm sure. ]

Not if I don't have to. I'm not sure what you're used to back where you come from, but I'm quite a reasonable and well-adjusted guy, here.

[ He's not moving from his sitting position. He's not gonna try and get close to you - he's being very polite about staying out of grabby distance. ]

I have a sneaking suspicion you have answers to some questions I'd like answers to. And as long as we both understand that I'm not here to escalate unless you do, we can keep it to a friendly chat.

Sound fair?

Edited 2023-05-16 23:37 (UTC)

I'm not sure what I could answer in any willful amount, so I may as well prepare to be hauled off.

*not making any move to do so, so it's just more defeatist talk than anything else.*

But yes, that is technically fair.

Well, if you think you can't answer in any willful amount, I guess the first question to answer is obvious.

Are you also under a geas by way of the Obsidian Lord?

Edited 2023-05-17 00:03 (UTC)

I am not under a geas. There is no point in a geas when other methods are more effective.

*cricking their neck*

To be honest, even confirming or denying that might be too much...

So, you're being coerced then. Or in danger.

Lady Suzume, I would assume? She's already made her presence known.

Oh... she has, huh?

Yes, she's the one I more directly deal with. Usually.

Seems like she's striking out looking for people. One of which I assume you already know about - seven feet tall, deep tan, large curly horns... kind of easy to pick out of a crowd?

Tell me about your dealings with Lady Suzume.

I'd rather not go into detail about Her.

The walls have eyes and ears. And there is only so much I can get away with saying without repercussions.

[ He sighs a bit, frustratedly. ]

If you need protective custody, I can provide that.

I'm already going to be picking a fight with them since I suspect I'm not going to like what they want from my world. So I'm ready to go the extra mile, if that's what you need.

...But I need information, here, Sadame. I understand the risks you're probably facing, but you'd face them better with backup.

There isn't much protective custody you can give-- if it isn't Her Majesty that goes after me, there's always going to be another problem. *letting out a sigh.*

... Perhaps you need to ask things from a different direction. I just request that nothing comes back specifically to Her Majesty.

It's never a simple answer, it's always "you aren't asking the right questions" "I can't answer that", "the walls have ears", and people wonder why I like to punch problems-

[ He stops grumbling. ]

Fine, then let's ask a question about His Majesty.

Why did the Obsidian Lord geas both Norikos? I can understand your Noriko, but the fact mine can't talk about it either...

*holding up a hand*

I've only picked this up in passing. I'm not as intimately close with her, admittedly... but I know enough to give the only answer I know is close enough: A hive mind.

...Of course. It does make sense he'd have to get everyone in the hive mind... Which means Moeko and Momoko probably can't talk about it either. Ugh.

[ Continues to think. ]

I'm going to guess not all of you want the same thing, here. How many factions am I looking at? There's at least two that's been implied, from my initial investigating.

What are the two that you know of? I'm not aware of what your scope of knowledge is, after all.

*getting up to get one of the bottles of water. this is my space, currently. I can move if I wish to.*

[ He's certainly making no move to stop you. You get the sense as long as you're at least trying to answer his questions and not just, y'know, book it, he probably isn't going to do anything too forceful. ]

Her Majesty's camp and Noriko's camp. Her Majesty made it very clear when visiting the version of you I'm more familiar with that the two of them aren't aligned.

... Why would my alternate have any involvement in this, to make that clear?

*clearly does not know about the attack.*

'Her Majesty' herself came to pay them and Shian a visit and sicced one of His Majesty's creations on them when they apparently refused to leave town.

[ Matter of factly. ]

And given she has publicly been talking about looking for a certain goat-horned woman...

Edited 2023-05-17 02:28 (UTC)

... Strange. I'm not sure why She did that, exactly.

*their response seems... sincere, at least.*

As far as anyone knows, I don't know where or what Noriko aims to do. But at the same time, I don't know the fullest scope of Her plans. I do as I'm ordered to do, because the alternative is worse.

[ Coerced into being a grunt with no idea of the greater scope... blah. Here I was hoping I'd found a more credible lead... ]

And what have you been ordered to do, exactly?

Edited 2023-05-17 06:01 (UTC)

*scanning possible futures-- makes a disgusted expression*

Oh, that's definitely something I can't say out loud.

[ Makes a slightly disgusted expression right back. ]

You know, the other you told me that you might have a penchant for catastrophizing.

What -can- you tell me that doesn't immediately send you pings of 'you are going to die for this'.

This isn't me "catastrophizing"-- let me attempt to explain the process, before we move on.

You are likely aware, via my alternate, that I have a form of precognitive vision. It's only thanks to the power of the Black Rose Dragon that I have some form of control over it, enough to at least focus in on one thing and see the possibilities before me, even if they all tilt towards the negative.

But there's a "most" and "least" negative. And in a split second for you, and perhaps several minutes to hours mentally for myself, I can count and judge how many possibilities I see are "most" and "least".

Every one of the results for answering your previous question is that I would be eternally burnt and tortured until I begged for release.

[ He rubs at his temples. He is trying very hard here, Sadame. Please understand. ]

Let's say I believe that you are 100% accurately predicting this, and there isn't a layer of paranoia tilting your biases. I did say I offer protective custody. I'm sure you've analyzed that as well.

But fine, let's change the subject. How did you become a Signer of Black Rose Dragon?

Edited 2023-05-17 06:32 (UTC)

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