FJ 2.3 Ikris Talk and the Echoes of the Past

	Arkalest	You find Ikris napping on your terrace, curled up- Wearing her usual black sport clothes, hands under her chin. Her feathers twitch in the breeze, and she seems to be fairly calm- Her breathing even and slow.
	Sabina	sits down beside Ikris, saying nothing as she folds her arms under her head and joins Ikris in enjoying the warmth of the sun, or at least the light of the hab.
	Arkalest	She inches closer to you in the warm afternoon light, tail curling protectively.
	Sabina	nudges over a tad closer to Ikris as well
	Arkalest	She quietly and slowly opens one eye, acknowledging your presence.
	Sabina	smiles and gives Ikris a small nod.
	Arkalest	After a while, she nods for you to speak up.
	Sabina	"I feel. . . I don't really know exactly. Lost a bit? Or perhaps just unsure."
	Arkalest	"Aimless."
	Sabina	"I think it's more that I'm not sure of the best path I should take is really, or is that the same thing as aimless?"
	Arkalest	"Perhaps. I am unsure."
	Sabina	raises her right arm before her, reaching up to the sky. "The power to choose is not a right, but a burden. A duty to choose rightly, for failure is payed for by more than yourself."
	Arkalest	"How poetic."
	Sabina	lets her arm fall across her chest. ". . . So it is at least."
	Arkalest	"So what happened to you? Looked at the Instrumental too deeply, and was displeased by what you saw?"
	Sabina	"Not displeased, though I feel perhaps I should be. Tuissant was. . . worried about what I saw, afraid of what it means for myself and the rest of us, yet I cannot feel fearful of it."
	Arkalest	"Because you grew up with it."
	Sabina	"Yeah,"
	Sabina	"I. . . don't agree with her, Tuissant, but then I also know she knows more than she lets on. By that same token however, I do not know what the basis for her fears are, I can only trust that there /is/ one but. . ." She sighs "I don't *want* to listen to her, it. . . presses at me, that someone would dare to tell me how to conduct myself with regards to the Instrament, even if it is her right."
	Arkalest	"So you're finally finding yourself facing a choice about defying authority."
	Sabina	"Pretty much."
	Arkalest	"And you don't want to betray her trust. "
	Arkalest	"But you must know."
	Sabina	"I. . . think it's less about knowledge, and more of. . . who I choose to be."
	Arkalest	She snorts- A warm, wet sound. "Welcome to the club."
	Sabina	"Sorry, I didn't mean to. . . " She trails off
	Arkalest	"It is alright. We all have to choose what we want to be, even if the choices are loaded."
	Sabina	"Do you think it's resentment then, that Tuissant would make that choice for me?" She lids her eyes and frowns.
	Arkalest	"Perhaps. You  do fancy yourself smart enough to make your own choices after all, and she hasn't revealed what she fully knwos about t he Instrumental."
	Sabina	"Which is why my misgivings are so, I know she wouldn't tell me without good cause."
	Arkalest	"But you want. You want more."
	Sabina	nods, slowly and only begrudgingly admitting as much.
	Arkalest	"This is what you are, and you want fulfillement."
	Sabina	"Yes."
	Arkalest	"Because yoou are happy with who you are.."
	Sabina	"I. . . . I'm not really sure actually"
	Sabina	"I've never really. . ." She frowns "Me being happy hasn't been a factor really."
	Arkalest	"You've got to ask yourself whether this is what you really want."
	Arkalest	Is this really what you want? And her voice is a soft reverb of metal against something wet and fleshy, low-pitched. Sad and soft, echoing through emptiness. She is old, weary.
	Arkalest	I am sure of it, Keeper. I have made enough mistakes for now, I feel.  In the sky above, you spot a bird flying. It is an angular thing, moving forward- Maybe a Phedrian?
	Arkalest	The man's voice is dull, without edges. Without emotion. Without much left. He's  not old, but he's weary. Tired as well.
	Arkalest	 I see. Then will you really follow through on the deal?  And in the sky, the bird is sihlouetted by heat haze and energy blooms. metal wings, sharp.
	Arkalest	What other choice do I  have? After all, we're only what we are made to be..  In the silence of the hab, the wings unfurl. Four black dots.
	Arkalest	They take off on plumes of plasma.
	Arkalest	 Of course..Of course. Time to go, then?
	Arkalest	Yes. And- And so we will go, into the Golden City. We will stand and- And the voice is monotone, like a prayer, and
	Arkalest	And yoou will stand before the pool, the pit with its inky blackness.
	Arkalest	And you will  behold me.
	Arkalest	And my laughter, bright as a nova
	Arkalest	Will be the last thing you ever hear.
	Arkalest	For god and queens may raise and fall
	Arkalest	But my hunger
	Arkalest	Will outlast them all.
	Arkalest	"-bina?"
	Sabina	blinks
	Arkalest	You feel a hand around your shoulder. Ikris warbles. "Are you okay?"
	Sabina	"No, after-effect of my fight with Dubiers," She shivers and leans into Ikris "I think I will recover in time though."
	Arkalest	"I see." She sounda vaguely worried.
	Sabina	"A double edged blade," She closes her eyes "Your worry is not unfounded. I learn more of my Instrament's past and of my people's, yet for the more I learn the more I question."
	Arkalest	"it's  hard being an engineered weapon of distruction, isn't it?" She quietly wraps her arms around you.
	Sabina	"Hard to say, it's all I've ever known." There's no self-pity, just a hint of humor and flat acceptance.
	Arkalest	"Maybe we should try and hit the city?"
	Arkalest	"Or did your fight result in a ban from that?"
	Sabina	"Uhh, well Dubiers did sorta threaten to hit me with a Torpedo if I go back into Spiral City without a coronet. Tuissant says she won't carry through with it, but I'd rather not antagonize her further."
	Arkalest	She warbles pleasently. "We should ask Tuissant's niece about Dubiers' favorite haunt."
	Arkalest	"And show up there with you wearing a coronet."
	Sabina	looks at Ikris ". . . A particular reason?"
	Arkalest	"Fun."
	Sabina	". . . Alright then, we should invite Mirah as well, and perhaps Irene as well?"
	Arkalest	"Just to be sure."
	Arkalest	"And maybe Dorian, just to have an excuse."
	Sabina	nods
	Arkalest	"I am not going to say it's a good idea, but still."
	Sabina	"I can out in a formal request to Natah for us to go out, better than asking if we can go, but if it is a bad idea he'll just deny it."
	Sabina	*put in
	Arkalest	Ikris nods slowly.
	Sabina	"Seems to be a good balance between making sure we do not overstep our bounds, but not appearing /too/ beholden to Tuissant." A thin smile