Jason is skirting around by now, looking cautious and skittish. He pauses a second to glance at Mikazuki, then tries to move sort of... around him. He doesn't even greet Mikazuki in any way like he normally does, or like he does anyone else.
mikazuki respects it. he's absolutely okay with just walking along and not acknowledging jason other than a nod.
anyway stardust.
It is March 25th. The year is 940.
Taira no Masakado begins his siege upon the central government. There are a great number of theories as to why he pursued his rebellion. Some believe it to be to protect the common folk against tyranny. Others to say that it was done to gain independence. He is a fearsome warrior, with enough strength to rival even you Sword Warriors. He is gallant, and awe-inspiring. Any would be honored to have him for a master.
You watch the unit seeking to fulfill this mission - in order for the mission to succeed, Taira no Masakado cannot win. You stand by, a bow held in one hand and an arrow in the other.
Bodies fall one after another until finally he declares, “I am the new emperor!!”
The unit is too far - they cannot assist. Taira no Masakado lives, when history dictates that he should not.
The ground beneath your feet quakes. The world slows to a stop. All humans are frozen - until they reanimate moments later… but they hardly retain their humanity. Their words are traded for screams, anguished and distorted. Their blades are turned upon one another without care or concern. What will follow will be endless bloodshed until not one human remains on this planet - they will lead to their own destruction.
The time government has made its decision. This timeline has been lost.
☽
It is March 25th. The year is 940.
Taira no Masakado begins his siege upon the central government. There are a great number of theories as to why he pursued his rebellion. Some believe it to be to protect the common folk against tyranny. Others to say that it was done to gain independence. He is a fearsome warrior, with enough strength to rival even you Sword Warriors. He is gallant, and awe-inspiring. Any would be honored to have him for a master.
You approach him.
“Who are you?” he asks, and you offer nothing more than a crescent of a smile.
“A friend,” you say, for you always introduce yourself the same way. “To those who must play a tragic role in history.”
Those who must die, for the sake of humanity. Those who must betray friends and family, for the course of the future. Those who are regarded as villains, who perform the most treacherous acts of all, because if they did not - they will destroy everything that comes after them.
Those who do not have the choice to be kind - not until you arrive.
You tell him that he will lose, but he must fight - for that is history. To even bear this message is the greatest taboo to be committed. Humans should not know of you Touken Danshi - you Sword Warriors - and instead be puppeted by strings outside their control in order to fall in line with history on their own.
(How could you accept that?)
“Do you tell everyone who must die that their fate is coming?” he questions you, but his grin is all teeth. A man backed into a corner - told his future and yet still intending to rebel.
(Good, you think. Rebel. Claim your life as your own.)
You do not answer him, and only smile instead. Though from his next laugh that follows, you imagine he must read the truth in your eyes.
“Oi… You’re too kind, Mikazuki,” he says then. And with the audacity that could only belong to a dead man walking, he tells you, “If you get too close to the losers, before long, you’ll share their fate.”
Despite what you have said, he continues to question the logic of your current system:
“What exactly is history? Old documents? Old artifacts? The fragrance of flowers, songs and poems. If something isn’t handed down, did it never exist? Of course not.”
It is a bold statement to make to you - the most beautiful blade to have never seen battle. To be so regarded as a treasure that you were kept longer than almost all else. Your existence is certain. Your mark on history is never in doubt.
But there are so many people - so many lives - that can be so easily lost.
You shake your head and begin to leave - but a thought occurs to you. A flash of a face appears in your mind’s eye… and you remember of this bold young sword. Suishinshi Masahide.
‘I don’t know how much I can do, but back then, Mikazuki Munechika’s eyes shone with a sadness. If possible, I would like to save him.’
To be saved… Is such a fate in reach for you?
Something in your chest aches - even now, you are still cared for. Even now, no matter the blood upon your blade and the rebellion in your heart.
How does kindness always manage to cut so deeply?
“‘Why did you rebel and name yourself the New Emperor.’ … Someday, someone will appear to ask you that question,” you tell Taira no Masakado as you turn to leave. “When that time comes, please answer them honestly.”
This is what little you can do.
Even this much - you have nearly been broken for it before, and you imagine that you will not stop until you are broken for good. But you are Mikazuki Munechika, and in the darkness of the ties of fate and tragedy, isn’t the little light of the crescent moon better than nothing at all?
☽
It is March 25th. The year is 940.
Taira no Masakado begins his siege upon the central government. There are a great number of theories as to why he pursued his rebellion. Some believe it to be to protect the common folk against tyranny. Others to say that it was done to gain independence. He is a fearsome warrior, with enough strength to rival even you Sword Warriors. He is gallant, and awe-inspiring. Any would be honored to have him for a master.
You watch the unit seeking to fulfill this mission - in order for the mission to succeed, Taira no Masakado cannot win. You stand by, a bow held in one hand and an arrow in the other.
Bodies fall one after another until finally he declares, “I am the new emperor!!”
This time, you loose your arrow. It finds its target upon his skull.
His fleeing slows to a stop. This is not a great week for him. His own, but also in dealing with others. Things he feels like he shouldn't see or learn about anyone else here. Good, bad, doesn't matter.
For a long moment, he debates whether he wants to keep walking or acknowledge it. Slowly, he glances over his shoulder at Mikazuki. He isn't sure... he enjoys learning about the swords he had grown bitter about on the island. It makes it harder. Naturally.]
[he should've kept walking. mikazuki wouldn't have minded. for him, he pauses and looks up to the sky as if it will give him some answer. some additional note of interest.]
... rebellion looks better on you than it does me.
[Please, if the sky actually gives some answers like that, tell Jason. He needs to look at the sky more then.]
Dunno. People look at me and expect it. It's never a surprise. People look at you? Always catches them unexpectedly.
[His head jerks up. There's more stardust, and he hates it, and what's more, hates how fast it comes. He flinches like he's going to book it, though there isn't any point.
Surely Mikazuki remembers what it felt like to be swirthed. Being in the Pit is only a little different.]
this really is other people's reaction to swirthing i'm shaking
anyway mikazuki will blink away the stardust, trying to make sense of the new memories in his head. a cant of his head, curious, before he turns to jason todd]
.... are you alright?
[considering how jumpy he was about personal shit,]
Thankfully, this one wasn't quite as bad as the other ones being tossed around, so he's at least not hyperventilating. He does look tense, though, in how white his knuckles are from his fists. He clenches and unclenches them slowly.]
[He looks so sus, but maybe this isn't surprising for him. His eyes study Mikazuki's face, then the hands... He glances around like he's paranoid, then he looks at Mikazuki's face again as he... gives Mikazuki... his hands...]
[He hesitates, but this is expected. He draws his hands back to himself, exhaling slowly.]
They're assassins. They want to... Their whole shtick is to cleanse the world and make it a better place. The catch is, to do that, they want to cull about eighty percent of the population. So the world can reset.
They want to be at the top, though. Of the new world.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
w3, monday
Jason is skirting around by now, looking cautious and skittish. He pauses a second to glance at Mikazuki, then tries to move sort of... around him. He doesn't even greet Mikazuki in any way like he normally does, or like he does anyone else.
Maybe he's worried about the stardust...?]
no subject
mikazuki respects it. he's absolutely okay with just walking along and not acknowledging jason other than a nod.
anyway stardust.
It is March 25th. The year is 940.
Taira no Masakado begins his siege upon the central government. There are a great number of theories as to why he pursued his rebellion. Some believe it to be to protect the common folk against tyranny. Others to say that it was done to gain independence. He is a fearsome warrior, with enough strength to rival even you Sword Warriors. He is gallant, and awe-inspiring. Any would be honored to have him for a master.
You watch the unit seeking to fulfill this mission - in order for the mission to succeed, Taira no Masakado cannot win. You stand by, a bow held in one hand and an arrow in the other.
Bodies fall one after another until finally he declares, “I am the new emperor!!”
The unit is too far - they cannot assist. Taira no Masakado lives, when history dictates that he should not.
The ground beneath your feet quakes. The world slows to a stop. All humans are frozen - until they reanimate moments later… but they hardly retain their humanity. Their words are traded for screams, anguished and distorted. Their blades are turned upon one another without care or concern. What will follow will be endless bloodshed until not one human remains on this planet - they will lead to their own destruction.
The time government has made its decision. This timeline has been lost.
It is March 25th. The year is 940.
Taira no Masakado begins his siege upon the central government. There are a great number of theories as to why he pursued his rebellion. Some believe it to be to protect the common folk against tyranny. Others to say that it was done to gain independence. He is a fearsome warrior, with enough strength to rival even you Sword Warriors. He is gallant, and awe-inspiring. Any would be honored to have him for a master.
You approach him.
“Who are you?” he asks, and you offer nothing more than a crescent of a smile.
“A friend,” you say, for you always introduce yourself the same way. “To those who must play a tragic role in history.”
Those who must die, for the sake of humanity. Those who must betray friends and family, for the course of the future. Those who are regarded as villains, who perform the most treacherous acts of all, because if they did not - they will destroy everything that comes after them.
Those who do not have the choice to be kind - not until you arrive.
You tell him that he will lose, but he must fight - for that is history. To even bear this message is the greatest taboo to be committed. Humans should not know of you Touken Danshi - you Sword Warriors - and instead be puppeted by strings outside their control in order to fall in line with history on their own.
(How could you accept that?)
“Do you tell everyone who must die that their fate is coming?” he questions you, but his grin is all teeth. A man backed into a corner - told his future and yet still intending to rebel.
(Good, you think. Rebel. Claim your life as your own.)
You do not answer him, and only smile instead. Though from his next laugh that follows, you imagine he must read the truth in your eyes.
“Oi… You’re too kind, Mikazuki,” he says then. And with the audacity that could only belong to a dead man walking, he tells you, “If you get too close to the losers, before long, you’ll share their fate.”
Despite what you have said, he continues to question the logic of your current system:
“What exactly is history? Old documents? Old artifacts? The fragrance of flowers, songs and poems. If something isn’t handed down, did it never exist? Of course not.”
It is a bold statement to make to you - the most beautiful blade to have never seen battle. To be so regarded as a treasure that you were kept longer than almost all else. Your existence is certain. Your mark on history is never in doubt.
But there are so many people - so many lives - that can be so easily lost.
You shake your head and begin to leave - but a thought occurs to you. A flash of a face appears in your mind’s eye… and you remember of this bold young sword. Suishinshi Masahide.
‘I don’t know how much I can do, but back then, Mikazuki Munechika’s eyes shone with a sadness. If possible, I would like to save him.’
To be saved… Is such a fate in reach for you?
Something in your chest aches - even now, you are still cared for. Even now, no matter the blood upon your blade and the rebellion in your heart.
How does kindness always manage to cut so deeply?
“‘Why did you rebel and name yourself the New Emperor.’ … Someday, someone will appear to ask you that question,” you tell Taira no Masakado as you turn to leave. “When that time comes, please answer them honestly.”
This is what little you can do.
Even this much - you have nearly been broken for it before, and you imagine that you will not stop until you are broken for good. But you are Mikazuki Munechika, and in the darkness of the ties of fate and tragedy, isn’t the little light of the crescent moon better than nothing at all?
It is March 25th. The year is 940.
Taira no Masakado begins his siege upon the central government. There are a great number of theories as to why he pursued his rebellion. Some believe it to be to protect the common folk against tyranny. Others to say that it was done to gain independence. He is a fearsome warrior, with enough strength to rival even you Sword Warriors. He is gallant, and awe-inspiring. Any would be honored to have him for a master.
You watch the unit seeking to fulfill this mission - in order for the mission to succeed, Taira no Masakado cannot win. You stand by, a bow held in one hand and an arrow in the other.
Bodies fall one after another until finally he declares, “I am the new emperor!!”
This time, you loose your arrow. It finds its target upon his skull.
“Goodbye, my friend.”
History is restored. ]
no subject
His fleeing slows to a stop. This is not a great week for him. His own, but also in dealing with others. Things he feels like he shouldn't see or learn about anyone else here. Good, bad, doesn't matter.
For a long moment, he debates whether he wants to keep walking or acknowledge it. Slowly, he glances over his shoulder at Mikazuki. He isn't sure... he enjoys learning about the swords he had grown bitter about on the island. It makes it harder. Naturally.]
...Guess I'm not the only bad boy of the family.
no subject
... rebellion looks better on you than it does me.
no subject
Dunno. People look at me and expect it. It's never a surprise. People look at you? Always catches them unexpectedly.
[His head jerks up. There's more stardust, and he hates it, and what's more, hates how fast it comes. He flinches like he's going to book it, though there isn't any point.
Surely Mikazuki remembers what it felt like to be swirthed. Being in the Pit is only a little different.]
no subject
this really is other people's reaction to swirthing i'm shaking
anyway mikazuki will blink away the stardust, trying to make sense of the new memories in his head. a cant of his head, curious, before he turns to jason todd]
.... are you alright?
[considering how jumpy he was about personal shit,]
no subject
Thankfully, this one wasn't quite as bad as the other ones being tossed around, so he's at least not hyperventilating. He does look tense, though, in how white his knuckles are from his fists. He clenches and unclenches them slowly.]
...Yeah. I guess.
no subject
hold his hands out? both of them, palms up. but it's a slow movement, like he's waiting for jason to decide if he wants to trust him]
no subject
no subject
but mikazuki will accept jason's hands, and simply squeeze them once, gently. like a grandfather.]
I am glad you are here, and no longer there.
no subject
Very Alfred.]
In the Pit, or the League? Maybe it did me some good.
no subject
... do you think so?
I recall a friend saying to me once - that the sad moments make us who we are.
no subject
[MAYBE ASSASSIN IS NOT WHAT YOU WANT ON YOUR RESUME, JASON.]
Just didn't have my ideals.
no subject
[he's curious where the mismatch lies]
no subject
They're assassins. They want to... Their whole shtick is to cleanse the world and make it a better place. The catch is, to do that, they want to cull about eighty percent of the population. So the world can reset.
They want to be at the top, though. Of the new world.