ghost by my side, so perfectly clear. [ catch-all ]

[insertdadjoke]

Who	"Jacob Kane" (Cain) & You
When	Month of September, barring plot explosions
Where	All around Keeliai and various establishments
What	Just one of those catch-all things
Warn	Will update as necessary. Please consider filling this permissions post!

Things were tense around the city. The breezy weather had subsided, and with it went some of the feeling of just waiting for something to happen. Now the air was humid and people were scrambling to collect what they could, prepare not only in case the air dried again but for whatever was to come when the Justicar appeared. No one had any idea what to expect. Cain certainly didn't, but he was more or less okay with that; he didn't need to borrow trouble rather than make sure his own interests would be all right should push come to shove.

To those ends, Cain was being a little more directed in his wanderings of the city. Places where the natives seemed more steeled than frantic, still appreciated foreigners or at least was willing to let individuals prove themselves, anything where he could make himself appear more solid. His carefree attitude was great and genuine, but if things went to hell, Cain wanted to make sure people would look at him and not question if he had to take some kind of control. All hail Romulus, father of the Holy Roman Empire. Ha, yeah right. Not that it would even mean anything to most people here.

He went about his business. There were places to be, people to bother, and plenty of things to keep up on.

Comments

[insertdadjoke]

"So the weapon that was made had an unanticipated side effect," Cain translated. He eyed the sword suspiciously. Part of him said he could reach out and touch it, test what it might do in the face of one with a soul that could apparently repel death. That part was easily under control, but his impulse was still there and he found himself watching it with distinct interest for what it supposedly could do.

He nodded slowly at her information, eventually looked away to regard her with the same interest as the sword. Admitting she was a disruption was interesting. From what he was gathering, correcting that disruption was nowhere near as simple as killing the one creating the imbalance. "There are creatures in my world with a similar role to that," he said eventually. "Reapers that collect human souls once their bodies have failed according to the time allotted by fate. Those Reapers, however, only escort the souls on to the afterlife where the energy continues in the cycle. That's the balance. How does your kind determine what souls to collect?"

[redlightgreenlight]

She watched him as he stared at the sword, feeling his curiosity, and part of her almost wished he would touch it, if only to see if the sword would reject him. He was an enigma, accepting what she was telling him with little protest, anger or horror. The existence of Reapers in his world explained part of that.

"Officially my kin and I were tasked with hunting down the souls of those condemned to hell. The sinners who had not yet repented. But the definition is very grey, easily twisted..." She met his gaze, wondering how he had managed to draw so much information from her. "I appreciate the fact that you haven't decided that I'm a monster yet, but at the same time, I am quite surprised by that same fact."

[insertdadjoke]

If Cain knew he had Valdis' blessing, he would have tried. It was less out of decorum and more out of common sense that the owner would likely intercept any sort of interference with the same tool that was granting her sanctuary from whatever creature forbade her kind their souls. If her soul was even something to call her own; he really didn't know enough to make that call, either. So many worlds and so many laws, and so many people with their own rules and exceptions.

That continued explanation actually pulled a smile from Cain, something wry but genuine all the while. What she was describing sounded like a mix of what were actually two different jobs where Cain was from and he was infinitely closer to the idea of Enforcers than he was to the necessity of Reapers. They were his family, after all, his brother and descendants all recruited after their death where Cain could not follow. "What you are or are not isn't up for anyone to decide but their highest power," Cain said, head tilted in acknowledgment that his reaction must not be very typical for her. "You've already admitted to being against the natural balance of your world and yet there doesn't seem to be any way I can see of it being easily fixed, either. Not fun, and I won't ask if you'd fix that balance if you could.

"All of that said? The more you explain, the more parallels I see which only makes your existence seem more and more unfair. For who, I don't know. Those who hunt down the souls escaping judgment, or their time of death depending on how you see it, are called Enforcers where I'm from," he explained. Still only common knowledge he'd already shared in parts and pieces to others in the City. "They aren't the same as Reapers, they're the subordinates, but what makes it interesting is that they're the souls of dead humans. Enforcers can't exist as soulless beings."

[redlightgreenlight]

He was smiling, another odd reaction, this man really was strange. Part of her wanted to cut in, but she listened until he was finished speaking. She honestly didn't know if she would fix the balance, because it would mean giving up everything she had gained, her morals, her emotions, her ability to form friendships.

She sighed, "I have not hunted since regaining my soul, all I wanted was to be left alone."

The idea that her existence was unfair to anyone but her was hurtful. Just because the common perception was that she upset the balance, it didn't mean that she actually did.

"My kind are not like your enforcers" she continued, shaking her head, "these humans did not escape judgement, they were judged and found guilty by my species, not some higher power...But being soulless, they also have no emotion or morals, which makes them almost better suited to judgement, at least in their eyes."

[insertdadjoke]

It came with Cain's pragmatism. After a point, everyone was responsible not only for themselves but for the lives they touched in their time. Whether or not they allowed themselves to be dragged down by that responsibility was the actual trick to it, one that Cain had discovered long ago. He was curious but not cruel enough to ask if Valdis understood that. She wasn't under interrogation even if Cain continued to ask what questions he could.

"Without morals, there's nothing to judge," said Cain, simply. If someone had no emotions or morals, what exactly was the metric of the weight? Reapers cared not what kind of person lived or died; all that mattered was that they succumbed once their time was run up. If evil people lived longer than good, then so be it. Judgment was not the call of anyone remotely near an earthly plain. "Your kind must have been following orders from somewhere, right?"

[redlightgreenlight]

She was silent for awhile as she contemplated their conversation. His world seemed less chaotic than her own, with the races sticking to their job and apparently following the orders of some higher power.

"If you believe the demons," she said finally, "Then my kind is supposed to follow their orders, but when we are as strong as their leaders, why would we listen to them?" She sighed, lowering her eyes from his to her sword, "No, my kind mostly follow their instincts...and the orders of their King and Queen."