No Man is a Mountain

No Man is a Mountain
Date of Scene:	12 July 2013
Location:	Bodhum Beach
Synopsis:	Avira runs across Angantyr after his encounter with Riku.
Cast of Characters:	Avira, Angantyr Vespar

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Angantyr Vespar has posed:
The Beach.

Angantyr had been out of contact for a while, he was expected to come back sometime around this time...word to the ground says he ran into Riku at Costa Del Sol...and after a odd barrier overtook them after some yelling...both walked away from the strange barrier. Riku ended up more hurt, but Angantyr left seemingly quiter.

Right now, Angantyr was on the beach, sitting down on the sandy beach itself as he looked up at the moon. His helmet lay at his feet, near his mace which was stuck out of the ground. He was quiet, contemplating at the very least...but there was a look on him, a haunted look. He'd seen something that shook him to the very core, something that he only now realized...

And for the first time in his life Angantyr was at a loss.

Avira has posed:
Of course Angantyr had been out of contact for a while. Avira is less than surprised. She remembers being told about what he did to the head honcho in Archades. Upon hearing it from his lips, the first thing she had asked him was did it finally satisfy him. His response...well...

It signalled to Avira that he had some thinking to do. She knew Angantyr. She didn't try to seek him out over this or nag him. He clearly needed his space.

It was by sheer coincidence that she finds him on the beach today. Avira herself was fond of the beach and often came here to practice some sword katas and simple strength exercises. The large form of Angantyr is unmistakable and silently, she approaches the dark knight. He'll see her, standing there with her hands clasped behind her back, staring out at the ocean.

For a while, she doesn't say anything, letting them both soak in the silence. Until Avira edges a little closer and moves to rest one of her hands on a shoulder. "...hey." she says softly. "You don't look so great."

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr doesn't say anything for a while.

"I don't feel so great." finally leaves his lips, running a hand over his face and hair, trying to pick himself back up...

"Out here to practice?" He asks, taking note of the sword and sighs...how long was it did he teach her how use a weapon...he drew her into this too. Was she just a pawn in his quest too? He looked down, and by the way he speaks it is as if something had taken the very life out of him. He's never been this...depressed? That is close enough of a word as any.

"You know...seeing what I have wrought, pushing people close to me away...I keep asking myself was it worth it."

Avira has posed:
Avira is patient. She waits. As he starts to finally move and talk, her hand falls away from his shoulder.

"Yeah. Wanted some fresh air too. The ocean's great for that." Watching him, her worried look only grows. She's known him for months now and he's never sounded this beaten down before. Never. She walks around him a little so she's in front of him, watching on, concerned. "Angantyr..." 'Was it worth it?' is the unspoken question. She's asked him this before. There was no need for her to utter the words again. But there was one thing she couldn't help. One thing she does in spite of all Angantyr's sins.

She steps forward and hugs him.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Avira manages to get the grappled condition.

Angantyr is hugged, and he sits there, a rock against everything like he normally is. However, his favorite phrase...no man was a mountain, becomes more true now than ever. He softens, considerably, and just accepts the comfort for what it was. He rubs his eyes, he wasn't going to break down like this...but...his hand pats her arm after a moment.

"I let myself get completely wrapped up...I ignored your and Maira's warnings...I pushed on for vengence...I let it consume me...every now and again I'd come out to...to get tastes of what a normal life is." He sighs.

"And I do it anyway...I couldn't pass up the chance...the chance to see the man who killed so many of my country men...who ordered his dog on us..." he sighs... "And look what I do. I create another me...I create another vengence fueled boy without a home. I give Garland the keys to the Kingdom..."

"He even contacted me, told me that I could go back to him after what I had done..." he says, "Arcadia is going to go to war...I put someone on the throne possibly worse than the previous guy." he makes a sharp intake of breath. "Everything I touch becomes corrupt...every time. This curse of darkness will follow me until the day I die, destroying all that I love around me. I can not get justice for what I have lost...it will turn into a horrible twisted mockery of what I am. I can not love...it becomes twisted and complicated...and spiteful."

"I don't know what to do anymore. For the first time in my life...I have no direction. No guide...no goal."

Avira has posed:
It's like hugging a robot. Avira's less than surprised. Angantyr was never a really emotional guy and part of her was actually a little worried he'd get mad at her for this display of comfort and pity. But she is quiet as she hugs him, simply listening him to him speak without comment or judgement.

He needed that right now. He needed someone to listen to him reason through his emotions about all this. Angantyr will feel Avira suddenly sharply breathe in as he mentions Garland and his offer. She hadn't known about that or Garland's now-apparent hand in all of this. Angantyr was played like a sap.

The scarred huntress squeezes him a little harder. "It's not true.." she says with a stubborn tone, "...everything you touch...it's not..."

She looks up at him, sadness in her eyes. Profound sadness for what Angantyr has brought upon himself. That is the key. "...it's not corrupted." Her gaze hardens just slightly, "It's not your darkness that has done this, Angantyr. You've showed me before that the darkness is not what who you /are/. Just a part of you that you draw power from. You do have something."

She pulls away, maintaining eye contact upon him. "You have the same thing that got you to this point, Angantyr. You have choices. You will always have choices and lately you've made lots of bad ones." A sad smile is upon her face and she lifts her hand again, resting it on his shoulder. "...and you will always have me."

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr does not maintain eye contact...he can not look her in the face. Not now, despair and horror have claim on his soul. He listens to it, feels her touch...at first it was neutral, but now he's icing up again.

"Yes. My fault. I've heard that all my life Avira." He says, finally standing up taking her with him if she stays on him. If nothing else Angantyr is powerful...

"Every <GOOSEHONK>ing time. It is your fault Angantyr, that you're infested with darkness. It is your fault, Angantyr, because you were born first...it is your fault Angantyr, because you didn't surrender. It is your fault Angantyr because you weren't good enough. It's your fault, Angantyr, because you tried to do what you thought was right to make someone who destroyed everything you held dear pay." he spits, "If it's not blame, then it's threats. If it's not threats, then it's just bloody screaming as people try to kill me."

"Anything good in my life I've destroyed. You say I'll have you..." he says, looking away, "But that's..." he stops himself... he doesn't know if he wants to say it. "No, I <GOOSEHONK>ed that up too. I couldn't be there when you needed me the most, and someone else was. Someone who's better. Someone who gets to say crap like he does. Someone who can see the good in others, where I can't anymore."

Angantyr laughs, "Look at me...why did I even denouce Garland? I'm just like him."

Avira has posed:
Here she is trying to put a positive spin on things-hm, maybe she should have emphasized the future a bit more because now it's devolved into Angantyr claiming everything was his fault.

Avira doesn't stop him. It's all true. Maybe it's a little of her fault too since she didn't really stand up to him and try to stop him. But at the same time she understood why he had done all these things. It all was not without cause. She says nothing. She lets him talk and go on. As he continues, she actually gets...afraid to say things. Because all she's said is starting to backfire on her with each word.

For a few moments she is lifted off her feet as she dangles around his neck from the hug. After a few embarassed seconds she lets go.

But then he says something that suddenly triggers anger inside of her. One tiny hand curls into a tiny fist and swings around in a hook punch at Angantyr's jaw. After the blow, Avira stands there, breathing hard, a mixture of anger and fear on her face at what she had just done. Wasn't she supposed to be some kind of gentle, kind, princess?!

But she couldn't stand it. She couldn't stand hearing THOSE words from his mouth. "...you are nothing like Garland." She says quietly.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Avira's fist collides with Angantyr's face. He moves...it isn't as solid as she might have initially wanted...but it was a clean blow. Infact, there is a trickle of blood. For a moment, ht looks surprised...he puts a finger to his lips realize she made him bleed.

No he doesn't say 'You made me bleed my own blood!' in surprise...no, he stares blankly at her for a moment. "You've gotten stronger." he says, wiping the blood from his fat lip and looks down at her.

"I'm not?" he says, having to need to hear that... He looks down, away from her for a moment and takes a deep breath in. "I don't know..." he says, "I think I am doing a pretty damn good job at destroying everything around me. I'm..." he just sighs.

"I'm sorry."

Avira has posed:
Pain immediately shoots up Avira's hand from the point of impact. Angantyr is no glass-jawed Dark Knight. Avira ignores that pain.

She stares back at him, a look of regret in her eyes for that particular outburst. Yet at the same time.../Garland/. A man who has orchestrated wars behind the scenes, completely erased what Morrighan was, stranded Avira in the darkness between worlds-compared with Angantyr? Angantyr, who's rage stems from a broken home and lost country?

No contest. "..." Normally she'd be overjoyed to hear that compliment from him as he wipes the blood from his lips but right now the sadness she feels for her mentor and friend was just too great.

"You're not." she reiterates firmly. "You don't take delight in destroying everything around you like /he/ does. You don't manipulate and coerce people into doing your bidding. You don't give me nightmares."

Her words start to grow pleading and she edges closer to him, her clenched hand uncurling and shaking. Those trembling fingers reach up to him to gently touch the place she just struck, but moreso to turn his head back to look at her face.

"And Garland..." she says softly, "...is /never/ sorry. You are more of a man than he'll ever be."

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr's head turns towards Avira...

He looks at her, hearing her words....and he takes a sharp breath.

"...Thanks." he says, hearing that. It...it shakes him from the stupor of depression, he just stands there looking at her for a moment.

"...I still have things I need to work through." he says, lowly, "Better or not..we still have no way to stop him. Kind words don't change this fact." he takes a breath, putting his hands on hers for a moment. He looks at her for a moment...that warmth and radiance...even if she isn't litterally glowing...he can feel it. "...I need to be somewhere else right now, I think. The last thing you need is someone...getting the wrong idea." he sounds a bit ragged, and pulls away, aiming to pick up his mace and helmet.

Avira has posed:
Avira stares at him for a long time, her brown eyes boring into his, searching for that comprehension. Her hands reach out, grabbing his wrists, "I'm not going to let you walk away until you understand the difference."

Yeah like she's going to be able to hold him here. But eventually, she does let go when he thanks her.

Her gaze hardens. "I know. We have no way. We have to figure something out." Angantyr follows up with something that suddenly makes her feel a little sad. She reaches for his wrist again, "No, it's alright. People will talk no matter what."

Avira's still got maid rumors floating around about her. "...if anything, I should go. I know you like the ocean."

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr's hand is caught, he turns back to her.

He stops, looking at her again...

And he brings her into a hug. Alright...fine, rumors be damned...he needs comfort. He can't take this alone, and if nothing else...

Avira was there for him.

Avira has posed:
Avira looks up at him, holding his gaze unwaveringly. Her hand doesn't move, remaining clasped around his. She is unafraid.

Her hand releases his after she is pulled in so she can return the hug as well, holding him close.

Angantyr needed someone right now. That's all that mattered.