fingernails thorn trees my fickle heart too; so many things in this sad world grow back

[cailisairgid]

In the weeks and months since Nuala's arrival in the nexus - many of which she spent living in the nexus, until her brother's acquisition of the autumn fort - she has elected, by and large, not to ask her own questions. It seemed more prudent to avoid drawing that amount of attention, to establish herself more discreetly. Time passes and things

Comments

[7_29_97_no_fate]

"..Thanks. For the semi-automatic. Otherwise, not much at all."

[cailisairgid]

"There is nothing else in human history you see owed your notice?" Nuala isn't challenging her - she's not the person to go to for humanity's greatest hits, let's say - but she is curious.

[7_29_97_no_fate]

"Like what, pray tell?" Sarah takes off her hat to wipe her forehead, a dismantled gun by her knees. "The atom bomb? Nuclear war heads? That we prove time and time again that we're ultimately going to destroy ourselves?" She continues her impromptu cleaning.

"No."

[cailisairgid]

"It is unfortunate to see nothing worthwhile in your own kind." Her remark is mild, though; neutral.

[7_29_97_no_fate]

"In our history, no." She looks up for the first time--and upon seeing Nuala, she has to remove her sunglasses. Let's face it, between Terminators and men from the future, Sarah's seen her share of insanity, but this woman is both haunting and beautiful. She recovers quickly, using her glasses to punctuate.

"There's nothing worthwhile in our past. But there is something to say for the value of human life. We've never understood that."

[cailisairgid]

...that, that right there, coaxes a genuinely warm (if small) smile out of Nuala's proud stillness. "The value of life, with no need for qualification, is something that I have despaired of ever seeing in humans. I am...well. I am glad to hear your hope."

Which is a somewhat optimistic interpretation of exactly what Sarah said, but Nuala died to save what she's talking about, not even particularly liking them, and she can be optimistic if she likes.

[7_29_97_no_fate]

"...There's no fate but the one we make." Sarah returns her eyes to her gun, flicking her ponytail over her left shoulder. "And I think we can still learn." If the machines can, maybe they can. Maybe.

[cailisairgid]

"We are all quite capable of learning. It is a matter of choice." She leaves her opinion of fate at the door, of course.

[7_29_97_no_fate]

She snorts lightly. "Yeah. Some choice these bastards make." Or would make. There's that crazy timeloop again. Skynet, Miles, John...Reese.

She sighs. Damn it, Kyle.

Sarah looks up at the woman again, tucking the newly assembled gun into her belt. "..What's your story?"

[cailisairgid]

"Men and their choices." Nuala huffs out a little breath, maybe wry, and tucks her skirts about as she sits down to speak more easily. (The gentleman with the hooves shortens the distance between them, which she opts to ignore.)

"My 'story'?" she hums, considers. "I suppose that I wonder about the subject, lately. A war was prevented, but in the doing I lost my home." This is a euphemism, and an oblique one, but her martyrdom is not something Nuala often chooses to discuss (or admit to in so many words). "My brother and I sought a new home, somewhere new to us entirely."

[7_29_97_no_fate]

Imagine that. Looks like Sarah isn't the only woman trying to stop some kind of Armageddon.

"My son and I know what that's like. Where did you go?"

[cailisairgid]

"To the Deepmoor. My shadow here," she gestures casually to the centaur behind them, "he is of our land now. My brother took up stewardship."

And if it keeps him out of trouble, then he has her full support as the Deepmoor's Lady. If it gets him into trouble, they may have problems.

"You have a son?"

[7_29_97_no_fate]

She nods lightly. No idea what she's talking about--something right out of a Tolkien book. "What's your brother like?" She nods a little, rubbing the back of her neck.

"My son, John. He's...my world." And everyone else's incidentally. "He's a good kid." And the only real defense man has against the Machines.

[cailisairgid]

Tolkien's okay, but Nuala thinks he has a tendency to plod along in places.

"I've sometimes regretted having no children of my own," she notes - something about her seems very young for that statement, but she's older than she seems. "But my brother, he is my twin, the closest to me. And foremost an exceptional warrior."