Exploration and Contemplation

[heavenslament]

Who: Terra Branford and OPEN
When: Now-ish? I'm flexible.
Where: Lunar Subterrane (Cosmos territory)
What: Scouting the area
Type: Log/Action (Both are welcome; I'll reply in whatever format you tag me with.)
Notes/Warnings: New threads okay, no limit to number of responses, separate threads for different characters

Comments

[obsidian_chaos]

Thanks to Terra's assistance earlier, Shadow knew now how to travel from one area to the next. Understanding the territory would be beneficial during the war, especially since he soon discovered that not all the realms had been connected to each other

[heavenslament]

The familiar voice cut across Terra's thoughts, and she perked up, turning. Upon spotting him, she smiled and nodded. "I wanted to see what else had changed."

She glanced up to the sky again. "This place -the Lunar Subterrane- is exactly how I remember it, though, down to the last detail. Well, at least in appearance. I've noticed that the mannequins don't attack me, here. I'm not sure why that is."

[obsidian_chaos]

Shadow trusted her words, although normally he might have been much more skeptical. His eyes glanced around the cliffs, platforms, and back up at the stars once more just as she had done.

"The placement of the moon and stars is still the same?"

He had expected that it would be, among other things. The different realms had no reason to shift or change, no reason to orbit or be orbited by other satellites. Except for perhaps that moon, but it was difficult to tell. Did anything change permanently? Or was everything restored to its previous state after the war? Or was time only going in a loop? There really were too many questions.

"I've yet to be attacked by any of the mannequins either. I wouldn't put it past a god of discord to lull us into a false sense of security, and then go on the attack without warning once it happens."

[heavenslament]

"You could be right." Terra frowned, thinking that over. "Maybe it's a new tactic of his, though I suppose we'll find out soon enough if that's true. It's a good idea not to let your guard down around here, anyway. Even if the mannequins aren't attacking, Chaos' minions could be anywhere."

She tilted her head, glancing to him. "Have you encountered any, in person?"

[obsidian_chaos]

Shadow shook his head. "No on both counts, on the mannequins and anyone on the side of Chaos. I've only spoken to a few of the opposition over the network."

He crossed his arms. "The problem is it's getting harder to tell who is on what side without knowing where they first appeared, not when we first see them here. There are those on Chaos's side who don't want to fight for him, who is to say that there aren't those on Cosmos's side who don't want to fight for her?"

[heavenslament]

"That might be true." Terra sighed. "This isn't how it ought to be. People shouldn't have to fight on a side not of their choosing. I don't know why it's happening at all, but there must be some reason...."

[obsidian_chaos]

Black ears folded slightly, and he did his best to prevent them from folding down even more so or pressing against his head. He agreed with her on all counts. Everyone should have the right to make their own decisions, such as fighting for what cause, or even to fight or not. Their hands had been forced, and as much as he would've liked to disobey or turn against the gods, he had no idea of the risks.

"Whatever reason it is, we'll find out. They have to tell us soon enough, or else everyone will become even more restless. Even the army of Chaos needs some order to function effectively."

[heavenslament]

Terra nodded, glancing around. No sign of trouble so far, but she did her best to remain alert, just in case. "At least the more organized of Chaos' warriors haven't returned...that I know about. I'm sure he will fill that need with others, though, so we can't underestimate them. And as I know what happened before, some of them do, also."

Her gaze lingered on a large crystalline structure, off in the distance. "And to answer your earlier question...yes, it's all the same. The moon and stars are just where they should be. It's reassuring, in a way, but...."

[obsidian_chaos]

"But it also shows that everything is back to where it was. And shows just how unnatural this place is."

It was just a matter of fact. The seasons changed, the constellations moved, the planets orbited. Yet everything here was stagnant and stationary, and somehow reset itself. Perhaps it was reassuring that everything was constant and therefore more predictable.

Shadow peered over the edge of the platform. "The others on the side of Chaos, they were defeated along with their god. I would think that they are also full of vengeance this time around."

[heavenslament]

Unnatural. That's what it was, though Terra couldn't figure out a way to describe it until Shadow did it for her. She was loathe to say that none of this was real, because it was to them, but at the same time, this limbo wasn't obliged to follow whatever rules their worlds normally imposed. It was a strange existence, and even her lack of memories from elsewhere told her that this wasn't how it should be.

She nodded in response to his sentiment, grim. "I'm sure they will be, yes. I don't know if there will be as many of them returning as us, but whatever their numbers...we'll have to be careful. They're all strong and cunning. I wouldn't call any of them pushovers."

[obsidian_chaos]

"We don't know what else those new warriors are capable of, but they are just as in the dark about some of our abilities. I would say we should attack them with all the firepower we have, but we may need to save some of those resources so our hand isn't revealed just yet."

Despite how unnatural or false this world was, he was relieved in some way to be on the side of Cosmos. He wasn't sure what fighting for Chaos would've meant or done to him... and what would she had thought if she found out that he would be going against all of what she had told and taught him. Shadow shook his head.

"Do you think would've happened if you had been chosen by Chaos in the previous war?"

[heavenslament]

That was a sore subject and it showed in Terra's wince. It was brief, only lasting for a moment, but she looked away abruptly. Her voice was soft, but intense. "I would never serve Chaos willingly. If he had directly chosen me...I don't know what I would have done. Even if it meant that I could never go home, I wouldn't help him. I don't want to think about what my powers could do for the other side...."

[obsidian_chaos]

Her words did give him pause. To give her more space, so to speak, as the issue turned out to be a sensitive one, Shadow turned his gaze back up to the stars. Her argument was based on the assumption that all of the warriors of Cosmos and Chaos still possessed some sort of free will. The thought of losing that freedom was indeed terrifying to him, but none of that fear manifested itself in any visible way.

Perhaps he was grateful that the gods had been as merciful as they have been, for lack of an appropriate term. So far.

"Is Cosmos really purely good, while Chaos is purely evil?" The question wasn't meant to disparage her answer, but he had to wonder. Were they were just as they were, order and chaos? Not necessarily good or evil, but just order and disorder? Whose moral compass were they operating on in the first place?

[heavenslament]

Terra pondered over that question in silence for a long moment. It was difficult to put her thoughts into words, but she wanted to try, even if Shadow only meant the question rhetorically. If they never bothered to consider such issues themselves, then wouldn't they be the epitome of mindless minions?

"...I don't know. From what I've seen of Cosmos, she is a kind person who cares about maintaining the balance, whatever it costs her. She sacrificed her life so that we would have a chance to defeat Chaos. I'm not sure if she knew she would be revived again, but even if she did...it couldn't have been easy to do that. Chaos...well, that's harder. He didn't sacrifice himself so much as decide that he was going to take everything down with him to ultimate destruction. I would say that's pretty evil, but...I do know one thing. When Cosmos died, he mourned her. So, what does that say?"

[obsidian_chaos]

Shadow had been halfway in the middle of nodding, but then stopped at her last, few statements.

"I don't quite know what it means or what it says. But Chaos mourned her? Whatever for?" That piece of information did bring a new twist into the entire situation. Kindness didn't necessarily mean goodness, and destroying everything didn't necessarily mean depravity either. He knew enough about the latter to think so, as misguided as he had been.

"But I suppose it all goes back to the dual existences. Without darkness, there isn't light. Without chaos, there isn't order. If you believe in one, you have to believe in the other?"

[heavenslament]

"Maybe...." Terra shrugged, having no real answers. Despite her knowledge of the previous cycle, there was plenty that she didn't know, nor was she going to pretend otherwise. Perhaps her knowledge might even be a hindrance, some aspects having changed as they had already.

She tugs at the end of her ponytail a little, while answering his question. "He mourned her, I think because she was his one equal. Without her...there was no challenge to his existence. He do have and do whatever he wanted without opposition. It's even possible that there were other reasons, maybe, but that's what I remember."