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don't wait for a knight in shinin' armor, your savior's reflected in the mirror
[That sure was a fucking thing. That execution was a fucking thing. Those secrets are a fucking thing.
Cabanela retreats to his room, but not for all that long. Everyone will get a note eventually, written in very neat handwriting
I do not plan on bowing down to threats and intimidation. If you did not act, it means you were, like me, aware of the risk, but decided against it. Your reasons are entirely your own.
Join me in the dining room if you agree enough is enough, and that you won't acquiesce to threats. I don't plan to let this stop me, and neither should you.
-C
In the dining room itself, Cabanela has set up coffee and tea for those who want it-- there's no food, because to be honest, he doesn't know how to cook. Two more candles have been lit-- he wasn't really sure what to do about the whole... parasite thing... so Fern's candle will have to make due.]
Cabanela retreats to his room, but not for all that long. Everyone will get a note eventually, written in very neat handwriting
I do not plan on bowing down to threats and intimidation. If you did not act, it means you were, like me, aware of the risk, but decided against it. Your reasons are entirely your own.
Join me in the dining room if you agree enough is enough, and that you won't acquiesce to threats. I don't plan to let this stop me, and neither should you.
-C
In the dining room itself, Cabanela has set up coffee and tea for those who want it-- there's no food, because to be honest, he doesn't know how to cook. Two more candles have been lit-- he wasn't really sure what to do about the whole... parasite thing... so Fern's candle will have to make due.]
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Yes, I'm sure. It'll be fine on the desk, since I already cleaned it off.
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What was there to clean off? I wouldn't have pegged you as a knick-knack collector.
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[She sets the tray down. There's a nice spread here between the pork buns, fried rice, and a stir fry, and a glass of water to wash it down with.]
I've had an idea of what bloodbending might be like for a while, you know. [After he explained waterbending to her, it was easy to think of ways that might work.] Based on your reaction when Yosuke was killed, I thought it might have resembled that, in practice. I could see why you would hate it.
[Tarrlok is the bloodbending son of notorious crime lord Yakone...
There's another part to his secret, and Rin doesn't want to touch it with a ten foot pole. It seems too tender. But there's an immediate if hazy conclusion she was able to draw from the rest.]
Were you forced to learn it?
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...Oh... oh, goodness, no, I really doubt even my father ever used it to rip someone's spine out, or ... blow them up or something like that. I'm not even sure if it's possible to go that far. It's mostly just... controlling living things' movements. Forcing their bodies to twist in ways they really aren't supposed to twist. Shoving their blood around inside them, basically.
[... he pauses a bit, then sets his fork down.]
...I always did hate it, but I was just a boy. It was bad enough that I wasn't good enough at torturing animals when we had to practice it so my father could eventually live vicariously through my brother and me as we enacted his revenge fantasy. And the one time I did refuse...
...
[He laughs a mirthless laugh.]
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There are mages who would be fascinated with a power like that, I'm sure, but to learn like that...
[, but not the worst thing Rin can imagine. Her response is smooth and measured, but not precisely unaffected. The way he learned bothers her the most. For more reasons than one.]
I'm sorry you had a teacher like that. If it bothers you, we don't have to do this.
[She doesn't want to push him. It's clear she's still curious though, and willing to lend an ear if he needs it. Tarrlok has steadily looked worse over the week, and it's obvious this has been eating at him.]
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[he trails off, not entirely sure how to finish that. ... he'll change the subject. just let him take a bite and then chew it, swallow...]
I know why it's a power people would want, anyway, even if I personally found it abhorrent. My brother took to it much better than I did, but I'm almost certain he was more powerful than Yakone was in his prime, before he was arrested and had his bending taken.
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What was his name? Your brother.
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...
We never did find any remains, so a part of me still held out hope that he was still out there somewhere. I... suppose that was naive of me.
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If you thought he was still alive, I don't see how you could be responsible for his death... It sounds like you were nowhere near him at the time. And it's not like you told him to die. Right?
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[He sighs, leaning back a bit in his chair.]
Plus, there was always more pressure on him from the word go, because I was significantly worse at both bloodbending and standard waterbending.
...
I know... I'm not directly responsible. I shouldn't let all this get to me, but it's hard not to go through everything I could've done that may have made things turn out differently if I just hadn't been so weak.
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That doesn't mean a small part of her isn't capable of understanding it now. Maybe not that weakness, but that responsibility; of being the one left standing because someone else is gone.]
You weren't weak, you were just young. In all those scenarios you've run through, one "what if" after another; do you really believe things would be different for the better if you'd acted another way then, or are you just getting by on wishful thinking?
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