[reaction]flightandfireNovember 16 2010, 12:24:55 UTC
[This is the first dream that's actually affected Iskierka deeply. Other dreams have always been just like a movie: something she could see and comment on but still keep herself detached from. Humans were different from dragons: they had different morals, different beliefs, and they just thought differently. Which was mostly because dragons in England were raised to be different, but that was just life for her. She had always just accepted that it would be different, and she would just have to be patient with humans and let them believe what they wanted to.
But this dream was about a battle. Battle was the same for dragons and humans, and it was one of the few things she did understand. She was bred for battle, and she loved every moment of a good fight
( ... )
[Finally she turns on her Hitomi, to leave Roy a message.]
Your dream was recorded.
[Because he should know that everyone in this world could possibly see it. For once, Iskierka thinks that people deserve their privacy about their dreams.
Then, as an afterthought, she adds a second comment.]
[It takes a while for Roy to erase the remainders of that dream. He doesn't even consider that it might have been recorded, but at this message, it's quite clear. He should have expected it. Not in the mood to let one slide, huh?]
It was bound to happen sooner or later. [Why not be a dream about something he's dreamed before?
That cocky Colonel isn't quite there, despite his attempts to maintain it, to hide those things he doesn't want anyone to know.
And his fire. Those flames that jumped from his hand and destroyed. An alchemy only good for killing. For ruining lives. For destroying the people he was supposed to be protecting. A sign of pride for him. A sign of pain. A sign of regret. It was a sign of many things and none of them were things he intended to speak about because there's someone that fire hurts more than she'll ever say...]
It isn't nearly as impressive as a dragon. I didn't think you'd be interested in it. [This is forced with a smirk, convinced, himself, that he's amused by it.]
That is a gross miscalculation. I have fought fire-breathers, I am friends with acid-spitters, and I have heard of water-spouters. They are certainly uncommon, yes, but it is fairly easy to at least meet one at some point.
Humans, on the other hand, have no extraordinary abilities at all. It is far more interesting to meet a human who can create fire than a dragon who can.
[She says that now, of course. If she had to compete with Roy for someone else's attention, she would be singing a very different tune.]
[She woke to this, this nightmare, and at first she wasn't sure. If she was awake, if it was her dream, if it was real. Confusion held her for a moment but now she is coming to her senses, now she knows it for what it is.
His dream.
She sits up, feeling ill, and tries not to think. Images of burning bodies won't leave her, though, no matter how hard she presses the heels of her hands to her eyes, forcing strange colors to burst across blackness. Fire, his fire (her fire? her father's fire? what does it matter any more to whom it belongs? they all carry that sin) burns behind her eyes still, always, eternally.
But it is Envy, really, that scares her. And the Colonel's rage. Those few moments in the underground when she wasn't sure if they could bring him back remain for her the most frightening of her life. And she can feel that tension in her body now, that trembling, that fear. She doesn't want this.]
[But this, too, is part of the path she chose and she can't go back on it now. Won't. No matter how sick or scared she feels, this is her responsibility, this is her life as she has made it and she must face it because there is no other option.]
Colonel.
[That's all she has right now, all she can produce with her voice without giving away what she is feeling. She is proud, at least, of the fact that she is able to speak that one word without broadcasting her fears and worries through it. It is softly spoken, partly a question though she keeps her uncertainty out of it as much as possible.
She breathes and in a moment is able to speak again, just as evenly as before.]
[As much as he tries, he can't bring himself to grumble in a false display of an annoyed man being woken up by silly, overprotective Lieutenants.]
Hard to sleep when it's so loud. [And he doesn't think he'd have to explain it. Hawkeye's always good at getting it quicker than anyone else. The explosion. The roar of fire. Screams. They don't just disappear like that. They don't just go away because it was a dream.
[The sound of his voice is reassuring. It isn't full of rage and fire, it isn't full of vengeance. It is his normal voice, a good sound. Comforting. Unconsciously, she exhales with relief.]
I agree.
[She understands. She is haunted by a lot of the same images, the same sounds. She doesn't really know how to make it better - or if either of them even deserve an ease to that ailment - so she can only offer her camaraderie as comfort. So at least he knows he isn't alone.]
[reaction]/[audio]firebendingteaNovember 17 2010, 01:55:19 UTC
[Iroh first assumes the dream is his own, brought on by the strange man-spirit looking to make soldiers of them all. Or, to be honest, the fact he hasn't slept well since the week started. None of them had. And, battlefield nightmares aren't a new thing. Fear, rage and revulsion... all things Iroh has felt, along with the hollow-seeming emptiness after they pass.]
[It's only near the end, feeling motions that are not firebending but that call the flame all the same, that he realizes that this isn't his, and he tries to pull himself out, to separate his own mind from the dreamer's]
[He just breathes for a moment, trying to steady himself, to ground himself in the here and now before he does something rash. The Hitomi's light is flickering, and he wonders if it caught him listening. He would have to say something.]
It does seem that this place has drawn many soldiers seeking peace.
[Roy likes this man. He reminds him of General Grumman, and he's tempted to ask if the man has a chess board, just so they can play and rid themselves of these terrible nightmares.]
A peace... they'll never find.
[He shouldn't assume that he's a soldier, like any of the others, but he's seen some of them and their skills aren't like some people with a hobby. It' terrifying home many of them there are.]
Wounds heal, even if they scar and pain you when the rains come. Though this week is doing an unfortunate job of opening everyone's scars. I don't mean to disrespect the dead, but... most of them do not seek to haunt the living.
[Iroh knew that the loss of his son would never stop paining him. Nor would any of his other losses. But, he remembered how he had felt when Lu Ten died, how it had seemed like Iroh's future had gone with it. There was a difference between a new wound and and old wound.]
[Because war breeds hate and his only thoughts when looking into the eyes of those he killed on an order alone, though his memories, is that hatred and a vow to haunt him for eternity. That nothing he does will ever make up for their spilled blood.]
Re: [Video]redeyeslasherNovember 20 2010, 10:48:54 UTC
A text book answer. If this were a test you'd pass with flying colors.
[it's almost too perfect.]
Yet now you don't seem like a mindless killing machine following the teachings of its master. Could it be you might actually enjoy being taken away from your world?
Comments 67
But this dream was about a battle. Battle was the same for dragons and humans, and it was one of the few things she did understand. She was bred for battle, and she loved every moment of a good fight ( ... )
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Your dream was recorded.
[Because he should know that everyone in this world could possibly see it. For once, Iskierka thinks that people deserve their privacy about their dreams.
Then, as an afterthought, she adds a second comment.]
You never told me you had fire.
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It was bound to happen sooner or later. [Why not be a dream about something he's dreamed before?
That cocky Colonel isn't quite there, despite his attempts to maintain it, to hide those things he doesn't want anyone to know.
And his fire. Those flames that jumped from his hand and destroyed. An alchemy only good for killing. For ruining lives. For destroying the people he was supposed to be protecting. A sign of pride for him. A sign of pain. A sign of regret. It was a sign of many things and none of them were things he intended to speak about because there's someone that fire hurts more than she'll ever say...]
It isn't nearly as impressive as a dragon. I didn't think you'd be interested in it. [This is forced with a smirk, convinced, himself, that he's amused by it.]
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Humans, on the other hand, have no extraordinary abilities at all. It is far more interesting to meet a human who can create fire than a dragon who can.
[She says that now, of course. If she had to compete with Roy for someone else's attention, she would be singing a very different tune.]
I imagine it is the opposite in your world, then?
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His dream.
She sits up, feeling ill, and tries not to think. Images of burning bodies won't leave her, though, no matter how hard she presses the heels of her hands to her eyes, forcing strange colors to burst across blackness. Fire, his fire (her fire? her father's fire? what does it matter any more to whom it belongs? they all carry that sin) burns behind her eyes still, always, eternally.
But it is Envy, really, that scares her. And the Colonel's rage. Those few moments in the underground when she wasn't sure if they could bring him back remain for her the most frightening of her life. And she can feel that tension in her body now, that trembling, that fear. She doesn't want this.]
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Colonel.
[That's all she has right now, all she can produce with her voice without giving away what she is feeling. She is proud, at least, of the fact that she is able to speak that one word without broadcasting her fears and worries through it. It is softly spoken, partly a question though she keeps her uncertainty out of it as much as possible.
She breathes and in a moment is able to speak again, just as evenly as before.]
Are you awake?
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Hard to sleep when it's so loud. [And he doesn't think he'd have to explain it. Hawkeye's always good at getting it quicker than anyone else. The explosion. The roar of fire. Screams. They don't just disappear like that. They don't just go away because it was a dream.
It wasn't a dream back then.]
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I agree.
[She understands. She is haunted by a lot of the same images, the same sounds. She doesn't really know how to make it better - or if either of them even deserve an ease to that ailment - so she can only offer her camaraderie as comfort. So at least he knows he isn't alone.]
Did you get any sleep at all, sir?
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[It's only near the end, feeling motions that are not firebending but that call the flame all the same, that he realizes that this isn't his, and he tries to pull himself out, to separate his own mind from the dreamer's]
[He just breathes for a moment, trying to steady himself, to ground himself in the here and now before he does something rash. The Hitomi's light is flickering, and he wonders if it caught him listening. He would have to say something.]
It does seem that this place has drawn many soldiers seeking peace.
[Quiet, unassuming, and calm.]
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A peace... they'll never find.
[He shouldn't assume that he's a soldier, like any of the others, but he's seen some of them and their skills aren't like some people with a hobby. It' terrifying home many of them there are.]
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[Iroh knew that the loss of his son would never stop paining him. Nor would any of his other losses. But, he remembered how he had felt when Lu Ten died, how it had seemed like Iroh's future had gone with it. There was a difference between a new wound and and old wound.]
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[Because war breeds hate and his only thoughts when looking into the eyes of those he killed on an order alone, though his memories, is that hatred and a vow to haunt him for eternity. That nothing he does will ever make up for their spilled blood.]
Sounds easy.
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[you interest Break greatly. Not to mention your power is fascinating. Much like a flame is to a moth. Only Break won't burn himself]
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[Obedient. Until the time is right. But Roy's not going to tell anyone outside his close circle. It wouldn't do to be betrayed.]
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[it's almost too perfect.]
Yet now you don't seem like a mindless killing machine following the teachings of its master. Could it be you might actually enjoy being taken away from your world?
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[And a good people reader.]
Even a dog needs time to rest. If I can't go home, I might as well take advantage of the scenery. I can't say it's been much of a vacation, though.
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