[It's kind of funny and also kind of awful, how many people in this place who are truly good and kind and strong don't seem to view themselves in such a light.]
Honesty is one of the best values anyone can have, I think. [And then, a less strained smile.] I like honest people.
[All of his favorite people are very, very honest, even at the cost of pleasantries or reputation at times. But he loves them anyway, because it's easy to trust them with what's important. It's easy to admire an honest person.]
[And he hums even as they walk along, and his eyes drift up toward the sky.]
All pirates have a treasure that they care for - right? In this case, the treasure was not gold or jewels... but rather, it was a town. It wasn't a very rich town, nor was it a very rare town. It was a port town... but the people in it were some of the kindest. They were unguarded, but beautiful, and perhaps that's why they were stolen away in the first place.
They were stolen away by an evil man - his name was Yang Kum-ji. He wanted to rule over Awa and its people, so he began to slowly rot it from the inside. He bought the officers into working for him, and he allowed crime to overtake the city, so long as he could benefit from it. He became the Lord of Awa, and he would use the soldiers under his command and others that he bought in order to harass the people. They would be injured, and the lovely women in the city would be kidnapped from their homes.
[When he speaks again, his voice turns warm, full of admiration and longing - ]
Enter the hero of our story - the beautiful, mature Gi-gan.
[Souji is quiet while Jae-ha speaks, attentive in the way one could expect from a good audience. Being able to focus on something else - something grander and farther away than the castle and things before him - does help in a way. The description of the city makes his heart ache for home, but he remains silent, instead focusing his active attention on picturing what's being said. A port-side down and its lively people, just milling about and going through the motions of daily life. A corrupt lord, sowing seeds of chaos in the midst of it all. It really is a little like a fairy tale in and of itself, isn't it?
At the mention of Gi-gan, there's a little fleeting smile, just the briefest lift of one. It's gone quickly, but he inclines his head forward, inviting the rest of the story before he makes any sort of commentary.]
[The fleeting smile is encouraging - and he's excited to tell the rest of the story.]
She was a mature lady - and didn't have too many resources at her disposal. First, she procured a boat, as most of Kum-ji's endeavors were out at sea. Next, she needed a crew. Soldiers were out of the question, and she couldn't find the funds to hire mercenaries.
So instead - there were fishermen. There were fishermen and traders, brothers and fathers and friends, who volunteered what little brawn they had. They picked up weapons they didn't know how to use and trained under Gi-gan's command in order to save the town that mattered so much to them. It was a difficult fight, of course, and they struggled initially....
Until one day, a snot-nosed, dirty-faced boy fell out of the sky. He landed on the boat, and he saw Gi-gan's work and he said to her, 'I'll do anything, so let me stay here.'
She scoffed at him - rightfully so. Yet... she took him in.
The boy had been blessed with the power of dragons in his leg, so he could jump from boat to boat and learned how to fight alongside the pirates. For years, they made small gains in order to try to restore order to their town and protect what they could. It was after a visit from at traveling band of misfits, and the efforts of one brave girl who led them, that they were finally able to defeat Yang Kum-ji one one fateful night. The girls he had enslaved were sent back home to their families, and Captain Gi-gan found her victory.
That night, the pirates celebrated and drank to their hearts' content, drinking and laughing... and the next morning they would wake up fishermen and traders again, knowing that their treasure was saved and all theirs.
[It's a tale full of success and valor, certainly... But the part that stands out most starkly to Souji is the end. The pirates drank and celebrated, and when dawn came - just like that, a broken spell. The end of something, in a very finite way, even if they were all still alive.
(He's thought more here than he ever has before, about just how ill-suited he'd be to times of peace. How anything other than the life he leads would be lacking, nearly-painful.)
And beyond that even still, there's a sense of mourning for a great leader he'd never really known. All leaders carry burdens. The good ones have heavier burdens than they really ought to carry. It's part of what makes them good, after all. Souji's quiet for few seconds longer, absorbing the details - Gi-gan's valiance, the pirates and their bold truths, and Jae-ha's new home among them. The brave girl and her traveling band of misfits, and the good they'd done.
He reaches out, touching the back of Jae-ha's hand.]
I like that one a lot. [He has no smile to offer this time, but there's a certain softness in his voice that seems less fragile.] ...I'm glad that everyone was able to keep that city safe. Do you all still watch over it?
... no, not me. The Captain doe- ... did. She remained in Awa, but she knew that I had another place to go. The brave girl who had shown up to help in the final battle... she'd come looking for a dragon. She didn't force him to leave, but rather he chose to go with her.
[ . . . for one reason or another. Jae-ha laughs faintly at that before shaking his head.]
It appears that there's always another adventure to follow, just when you think your life's work might be over. It wasn't time for me to rest yet.
[It's a soft sound of understanding, as some other things Jae-ha had said much earlier begin clicking into place in the bigger picture that he is. Souji's expression softens, something faintly fond in it.
It seems good people attract good people in the end, huh?]
That brave girl is waiting for the dragon she'd come to get, then?
[haha little does his ass know
BUT REALLY it's good to know that Jae-ha will be going back to a place like that, where he's wanted and needed and has an adventure laid out in front of him, new and fresh and exciting. And equally good that Gi-gan will continue as she had, overlooking the town she'd saved.
They'll just have to retrieve her to ensure that continues to be.]
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no subject
Honesty is one of the best values anyone can have, I think. [And then, a less strained smile.] I like honest people.
[All of his favorite people are very, very honest, even at the cost of pleasantries or reputation at times. But he loves them anyway, because it's easy to trust them with what's important. It's easy to admire an honest person.]
--Pirates... I'd like to hear more about that.
no subject
Alright, I do like telling this story.
[And he hums even as they walk along, and his eyes drift up toward the sky.]
All pirates have a treasure that they care for - right? In this case, the treasure was not gold or jewels... but rather, it was a town. It wasn't a very rich town, nor was it a very rare town. It was a port town... but the people in it were some of the kindest. They were unguarded, but beautiful, and perhaps that's why they were stolen away in the first place.
They were stolen away by an evil man - his name was Yang Kum-ji. He wanted to rule over Awa and its people, so he began to slowly rot it from the inside. He bought the officers into working for him, and he allowed crime to overtake the city, so long as he could benefit from it. He became the Lord of Awa, and he would use the soldiers under his command and others that he bought in order to harass the people. They would be injured, and the lovely women in the city would be kidnapped from their homes.
[When he speaks again, his voice turns warm, full of admiration and longing - ]
Enter the hero of our story - the beautiful, mature Gi-gan.
no subject
At the mention of Gi-gan, there's a little fleeting smile, just the briefest lift of one. It's gone quickly, but he inclines his head forward, inviting the rest of the story before he makes any sort of commentary.]
no subject
She was a mature lady - and didn't have too many resources at her disposal. First, she procured a boat, as most of Kum-ji's endeavors were out at sea. Next, she needed a crew. Soldiers were out of the question, and she couldn't find the funds to hire mercenaries.
So instead - there were fishermen. There were fishermen and traders, brothers and fathers and friends, who volunteered what little brawn they had. They picked up weapons they didn't know how to use and trained under Gi-gan's command in order to save the town that mattered so much to them. It was a difficult fight, of course, and they struggled initially....
Until one day, a snot-nosed, dirty-faced boy fell out of the sky. He landed on the boat, and he saw Gi-gan's work and he said to her, 'I'll do anything, so let me stay here.'
She scoffed at him - rightfully so. Yet... she took him in.
The boy had been blessed with the power of dragons in his leg, so he could jump from boat to boat and learned how to fight alongside the pirates. For years, they made small gains in order to try to restore order to their town and protect what they could. It was after a visit from at traveling band of misfits, and the efforts of one brave girl who led them, that they were finally able to defeat Yang Kum-ji one one fateful night. The girls he had enslaved were sent back home to their families, and Captain Gi-gan found her victory.
That night, the pirates celebrated and drank to their hearts' content, drinking and laughing... and the next morning they would wake up fishermen and traders again, knowing that their treasure was saved and all theirs.
no subject
(He's thought more here than he ever has before, about just how ill-suited he'd be to times of peace. How anything other than the life he leads would be lacking, nearly-painful.)
And beyond that even still, there's a sense of mourning for a great leader he'd never really known. All leaders carry burdens. The good ones have heavier burdens than they really ought to carry. It's part of what makes them good, after all. Souji's quiet for few seconds longer, absorbing the details - Gi-gan's valiance, the pirates and their bold truths, and Jae-ha's new home among them. The brave girl and her traveling band of misfits, and the good they'd done.
He reaches out, touching the back of Jae-ha's hand.]
I like that one a lot. [He has no smile to offer this time, but there's a certain softness in his voice that seems less fragile.] ...I'm glad that everyone was able to keep that city safe. Do you all still watch over it?
no subject
... no, not me. The Captain doe- ... did. She remained in Awa, but she knew that I had another place to go. The brave girl who had shown up to help in the final battle... she'd come looking for a dragon. She didn't force him to leave, but rather he chose to go with her.
[ . . . for one reason or another. Jae-ha laughs faintly at that before shaking his head.]
It appears that there's always another adventure to follow, just when you think your life's work might be over. It wasn't time for me to rest yet.
Not then... not now either.
no subject
[It's a soft sound of understanding, as some other things Jae-ha had said much earlier begin clicking into place in the bigger picture that he is. Souji's expression softens, something faintly fond in it.
It seems good people attract good people in the end, huh?]
That brave girl is waiting for the dragon she'd come to get, then?
[haha little does his ass know
BUT REALLY it's good to know that Jae-ha will be going back to a place like that, where he's wanted and needed and has an adventure laid out in front of him, new and fresh and exciting. And equally good that Gi-gan will continue as she had, overlooking the town she'd saved.
They'll just have to retrieve her to ensure that continues to be.]