Event | Landfall | Bresilyk | Aihsohlow

[ironwood]

Characters: Any and all!
Date: December 3 - 11, 2013
Location: Aihsohlow, Bresilyk (landfall)
Situation: Tu Vishan makes landfall at the winterbound republic of Bresilyk!
Warnings/Rating: Please include warnings in comment subject lines

OOC Post | Approved Items | Special Gifts
Aihsohlow | Phorezton | Markutte | Countryside

The starting point of landfall and the smallest port of importance in all the republic. All visitors will have a fish mark stamped on their tin visa if they are granted access here. The homes here are sturdy and built to withstand the harsh sea winds, though the dome has rendered their sturdiness largely irrelevant as the years pass. Fish represent the primary theme of food, with preserved and smoked renditions a commodity often sent for trade to others towns. Local authorities will ask for the tin card visa of each visitor upon first sight, verifying the information with some scrutiny before handing it back and allowing them to continue onwards. There are some auctions held here, with the items obtained often showing signs of recovery from the ocean floor by diving parties in search of fish to net.

Customs | Settlement | Auctions | Harvest Haul | Other

Comments

[unobtainableredemption]

I'm no better than Norman Osborn! I am a monster, Peter! I've turned on Aracely and Ben and the other Peter... I turned on Louise... [his fist clenches] and I don't doubt for a second there will come a day when I'll turn on you too. So stop telling me I'm a good person, because you're only fooling yourself.

[nerdylilspidey]

[Peter's eyes widen slightly in shock and he quickly searches Kaine's face for any sign that he could be lying or exaggerating or anything. Not that he could really tell even if there were any. Still, he's having a hard time believing that Kaine could be as bad as Norman Osborn.

But it's clear that Kaine really believes he's a monster. He really seems to want Peter to stop, for his own good. And Peter knows that argument too well.]

You're not a monster, Kaine. And even if you do "turn" on me one day, how about you let me deal with that if it happens??

[unobtainableredemption]

[Why does no one believe him when he says that? When did he become so unimposing? Kaine has no doubt that one day the Other will regain control (after all, a deal was a deal, and it was Kaine who reneged...), and when that day came it would go for Peter first. It didn't matter it wasn't the same Peter. He could feel the Other when he had seen Peter that time. It was beyond angry at him for rejecting it. So in the end Peter would be dead and it would be all his fault. All because Peter didn't believe him.]

You're so naive. In all my years against Parker, Reilly, and all the others... [read: clones] they never once beat me in combat. What makes you think you're any different?

[nerdylilspidey]

[His frown tightens slightly. Peter's often been told that he's naive. That he doesn't think things through and he doesn't tread carefully enough. Cap had been particularly adamant about making Peter know that. That naivete probably ultimately saved Cap. And it also probably ultimately got himself killed.

But hadn't it been worth it to protect Aunt May and the others? ]

For one thing, have any of them lived with you for as long as I have here?

[unobtainableredemption]

What does that have to do with anything?

[nerdylilspidey]

You asked what I think makes me any different.

[ Ba-dum tssh.

Oh, man. It was nice knowing you, Parker. ]

[unobtainableredemption]

[Kaine would growl, but that would require far more energy than he feels like he can expend. Instead he rolls his eyes; that was too much like Parker.]

Aracely. She's been with me over a year now. [Just going to kill your stupid joke now.]

[nerdylilspidey]

[Oh. That does kill his joke a little.]

...But she doesn't have spider-powers, does she?

[unobtainableredemption]

She doesn't need them. She's got some sort of empathic ability, some sort of telepathic ability that freaks out other telepaths, and can freak everyone else out with a suggestion.

And sometimes she sleeps upside down in mid-air. [He stopped questioning it after the first time he saw it.]

[nerdylilspidey]

[He pauses there. So those are pretty cool powers, and Peter must once again wonder why everyone gets cooler powers than he does. But he's determined to prove to Kaine that he can handle himself, that he doesn't need protecting, and that he's going to stand by him whether he likes it or not.]

But they're not spider-powers.

[unobtainableredemption]

What does it matter that they're not spider-powers?! What is so important about having them?!

[nerdylilspidey]

You said to name differences, so I named one! Another one. [God, Kaine, accept the joke for what it is. :(

...He really wants to ask why Aracely doesn't use her "freak people out with a suggestion" power to calm Kaine down if/when he loses it, but even he can tell that's a bad idea.]

Look, just... trust me. I may have died at sixteen, but I can totally hold my own.

[unobtainableredemption]

[God damn it all, Peter, can't you take something seriously for once in your goddamn life?!]

Clearly not, as you're dead at sixteen!

[Kaine regrets saying it immediately. He had been so annoyed at Peter for pushing his buttons that he just had to push back. Why couldn't Peter have just taken this whole thing seriously? No, that isn't fair to Peter. No matter how he reacted, he didn't deserve that comeback.

He pales as he takes several steps backward, as if he's afraid Peter's going to strike him for saying it, until the wall of the alley keeps him from going back any farther.]

I'm sorry, I... I... [What the hell was wrong with him?!]

[nerdylilspidey]

[That makes a frown form across Peter's face, his eyes quickly darting toward the ground.] I am, but I died doing what I had to do.

[That doesn't mean that it sucked any less. Nor does it change the fact that he would very much like to still be alive. But still...] I'm not afraid. Maybe you think I should be, which I get, believe me. But I'm not.

[He goes quiet for a second, his grip on Ben's costume tightening slightly. Peter's been avoiding thinking about this for so long that it's beyond weird to start now. But it all comes bubbling up in a rush, as fresh in his memory as it was the day he showed up on the turtle. Even when he'd been fighting Osborn and the rest of those guys, he hadn't really been afraid, not for himself. He'd been more afraid for his friends, his family, the innocent people standing on the sidelines just watching.]

Maybe I am being idiotic and naive, and maybe that's exactly what got me killed. But y'know what, I don't care. You're my friend, Kaine. And whether you like it or not, I'm standing by you.

[unobtainableredemption]

[Though Kaine had been desperately looking everywhere but at the child in front of him, by the end of Peter's little speech, he finds himself staring right at him. That's the Peter he had come to expect... the one he was expecting to find back in New York. The annoyingly optimistic one that, like Ben, was determined to find the good in him. He had been so hurt by his Peter's betrayal that he had been almost subconsciously taking out on this one.]

All right, all right, you win. I get it. I'm stuck with you.

I'm beginning to remember why I sacrificed myself for your stupid ass now. [He says it casually, as if a slip of the tongue. Peter wants to know more about him, doesn't he? He supposes one story won't kill him.]

[nerdylilspidey]

[It's probably a small victory, but to Peter it feels huge and it makes his frown give way for a small smile.

Which then slips slightly as Kaine utters those last words. There's a story there. There's totally a story there, and this seems like the one moment where Peter will actually get Kaine to share.]

Whoa... "Sacrificed yourself"? Why was there sacrificing?

[unobtainableredemption]

[Bites the inside of his lip. He's beginning to regret his decision. Sharing isn't exactly something his comfortable doing. But it's too late to take it all back now.]

Because the Kravinoff's wanted you--other you--dead. That family of psychos blamed you for Kraven's death and thought that somehow sacrificing you would bring him back. His crazy kids stalked me for weeks; I knew what they were capable of. I knew if I didn't step in, they'd succeed.

[nerdylilspidey]

[It's a pretty terrible story, really, and Peter knows it. It just makes it more clear to him that Kraven was a total nutjob, and he'd done the right thing in sending him into the slammer in the first place. But it's also kind of nice to be reassured that some things stayed pretty close to the same across universes.

It's also nice to know that Kaine is actually sharing a story of his life with him. So despite the fact that what Kaine's describing is a pretty crappy situation, Peter's still pleased that they're even having story time.

At least, until he realizes how the story actually ends.]

And that- That's where there's sacrificing. For- Well, for Other Me. [He pauses for a second, thinking.] What... happened? What'd you do? Or what'd they do...?

[unobtainableredemption]

Other you was sick. Apparently they'd worn him out like they did me. It was easy enough to knock him out... I took his costume and made sure they couldn't find the real thing. Then I just pretended to be Parker.

[He may be determined to tell Peter about this story, but that doesn't mean he's going to share exactly how it ends. That he was shot twice, impaled and stabbed before...] They sacrificed me in Parker's place. They never checked under the mask.

That was the second time I died.

[nerdylilspidey]

[ The second time. Those words hit him like a blow to the gut. That's right; Kaine's died 4 separate times. And at least one of those times happened... because of Peter.

He draws in a deep breath and then lets it go slowly, in almost a sigh. It seems things like this just happen a lot around him.]

Sorry. That you, y'know, got all mixed up in something like that.

[And then there's the other question that's been on his mind.] ... How'd you... recover from...?

[unobtainableredemption]

[He notices the change in Peter's posture almost immediately. It seems Parker guilt ran across universes.

He shakes his head.]

After I tried to warn Parker when they finally caught up to me, I could have run. They... weren't interested in a clone. [He should have run. That was how he survived all of those years, by being smart enough to not emulate the idiot he was cloned from.

...Where did that guy go?

And then he remembers Ana's words as she plunged her knife into his chest; nowhere vital, but enough to actually take him down. He could hear them as clear as if she were whispering them into his ear all over again. "You get life. Don't look so sad. When all this is over... you'll finally be someone. You'll be the only spider left... even if you are an ugly one." He knew then that he wasn't capable of saving them all. But Peter was. After hunting them for weeks, Kaine had picked up on their plan, and knew that after sacrificing "the Spyder," as Ana seemed to call him, they'd let their guard down, and Peter would finally have a shot. Granted, he was hoping Peter would come to the rescue before they stabbed him at the altar... but he knew when he picked up that razor, back in Peter's apartment, that the odds of that happening were slim to none. He knew what he was getting into.]

I made that choice, Parker. Don't take it away from me.

[And then Peter asks about his resurrection. That involved too many parts of his life Kaine just didn't want to talk about, so it was time for story time to be over.] I don't know. I just remember pulling myself out of my grave.

[nerdylilspidey]

[That has Peter shutting his mouth again. He understands that kind of decision making more than he can even actually explain. He did it himself, after all. So in response he simply... nods.]

In that case... Thanks. On both of our behalfs. [It seems like something that should be said, in case it hasn't been already.

And he won't pry any further about that last part. Climbing out of your own grave can't possibly be one of those memories that are fun to relive. He'll just have to wait to find out what makes it possible for a person to die four times and keep coming back.]

[unobtainableredemption]

As far as I'm concerned, we're even. [Because even though kicking him into the vat of Anti-Venom had been a total accident on Peter's part, it still finally cured him of his degeneration (...and Tarantula-ness).]

Happy now? [Hey, if you ever find that out, let him know, will you?Because he's still not sure. Because he'll never find out that it's a side-effect of living in the 616 Universe.]