when things break bad...

[ldfsh]

Bad End AU Meme

Sometimes you want a fix-it AU. You want everyone to live, to be happy, to find love, so on and so forth. You want the bad guy to lose early, for victory and triumph. Those are great things. Those are happy things. But sometimes terrible things happen to good people and you want to get catharsis through making some characters suffer. We understand. We really do. Sometimes no one wins. Sometimes the villain wins. Sometimes even if the heroes win everything is for naught. Sometimes, things just don't end happily.

• Top level your character. Include any details you might think are relevant. Or don't. As always, we're not the cops.
  
• Reply to other people's top levels!
  
• Have fun!

Comments

[helpdesk_hero]

"Quiet spaces?"

See, he wasn't at all prepared for the idea that things could be more noisy then Eryut village was. He would truly be shocked and confused when he encountered it.

"Change?" he asked. The man had spoken of it before, and now David wanted to see it. "Please, then, guide me. Show me more of your world."

[portolan]

It's one thing to know someone hasn't seen the world and another to begin to process it. Balthier chuckles lightly. "Words don't hold much weight in this case, do they?"

It's good, though, to hear some curiosity in David. "We can go three ways out of the jungle. One is a mist-heavy wood, and I do not think I am strong enough for the creatures there. One is through the snowy mountains, and I do not think we are properly prepared in clothing, so we will go the third, which lets out on the plains the eventually turn to desert."

[helpdesk_hero]

No, he supposed they did not. Balthier was going to have the paint a picture in experience, and David would hopefully adjust to it.

"I would prefer the wood, but I understand the reasons to not. I believe I have heard of deserts before. They are places where there are less rain. What sorts of plants grow there, I wonder."

[portolan]

"It's not much like this wood, but it would likely be interesting to see." In his private opinion, everything is worth seeing, but he also knows familiarity is comforting in an upheaval. If the feywood made sense, he'd prioritize it.

"We should get you a blank book when we can, and you can record your travels and the plants."

[helpdesk_hero]

That sounded wise. A travelog of sorts, a way to communicate the changes he saw, as well as what he felt.

"Is this a common thing to be done?" he asked curiously as they walked together, though his eyes weren't on Balthier. They were on the wood around them, his senses straining for signs of dangerous creatures.

[portolan]

“To keep a personal log or journal is common. I suspect if you wanted to publish it someday it would be of great interest to people, given your unique perspective.” He didn’t know if David had ever considered that in addition to reading books, he could write them.

“I have kept them on and off over the years.”

[helpdesk_hero]

"I am a hunter. I was not trained to write books," David observed, because it wasn't like he knew that this was something that could be done by anyone. He was, after all, trained from boyhood to be a hunter.

[portolan]

“I was not trained to be a pirate,” Balthier chuckles, giving a shrug. “It’s just as good to write it for yourself, if it’s something that interests you.”

[helpdesk_hero]

Wasn't he? How interesting. David considers this, then leans in to look just a bit more closely at Balthier.

"Were you not? You look like a pirate. At least I thought you would look like a pirate. Interesting."

[portolan]

He catches David examining him and grins. "It took rather well, but no, I didn't start this way. I am quite an excellent example now."

[helpdesk_hero]

"Yes, the Wood would not send me to a poor example," David agreed. So truly this Hume must be a fetching example of the type.

"Is this garb traditional for the work? If I travel with you would I be expected to go about so?"

[portolan]

Some part of Balthier wants to protest, but his respect for Viera culture stills his tongue, and as he considers it, some part of him wonders if it's true. He would not trust himself, but he does, truly, trust the Wood. If she felt he was what David needed, then -- he'd like to live up to that.

He isn't sure "pirate" was what he was chosen for though, and can't help grinning.

"I'm not really traditional anything, though I suppose that individualism is typical of pirates. You can wear what you like, unless we need to be incognito, and I can assist with that."

[helpdesk_hero]

“I do not believe that you could. I am very tall, and Viera.”

And male at that. How many Humes or Bangaa or any other species had ever seen those like him.

“This is something you can teach me.”

[portolan]

David makes a fair point, but Balthier still shrugs. "There is power in looking settled in a community, or directing attention toward what you want noticed, not what you're actually doing. Fran stood out too."

There's a little sting saying it, but there's...peace too, being able to remember her positively, talk about her as the memories surface.

"Also you'll want clothes for other weather. There are some tailors who work well with uncommon measurements."

It's occurring to him that he has a lot to teach David.

[helpdesk_hero]

"My hunting gear will not suit?"

Most of it, save for the metal parts, David had even made for himself. This would be something new to him.

"Would it be like yours? It is fetching."

[portolan]

"It will for the plains and Balfonheim," Balthier assures him, thinking perhaps it's something he shouldn't push unless it's absolutely necessary.

But then David compliments his clothing and he grins again. "If you want it to be. There are a lot of choices -- we'll keep an eye on what you like. Yours are quite charming too."

[helpdesk_hero]

Charming. The Viera raises an eyebrow at that and shakes his head.

"Provincial is how I shall seem."

[portolan]

"Alright we'll assume your reading of how the people of Balfonheim will perceive you is correct, given that your experience being vastly wider than mine." But he's grinning as he says it. He likes David's pigheadedness.

[helpdesk_hero]

Well, if he’s going to put it like that he’s going to get a very unimpressed expression from the Viera.

“Are all Humes as strange as you?”

[portolan]

That pulls a hearty laugh from Balthier, lighter than it's been in months.

"No, I'm afraid I'm one of a kind."

[helpdesk_hero]

“Then She was wise, to guide me to a singular example,” he decided with a nod as they walk.

He was, of course, working his hardest to keep a stride suitable for the Hume beside him.

[portolan]

He isn't going to argue with David's confidence in the Wood, or in turn, in Balthier.

Well, not much. "I think she was wise to guide you to a hume who thinks a good deal about how other humes behave," he agrees. He's not sure he's a good example of much of anything.

He does push to keep up with David best he can. His stamina is improving, but a few days can only do so much. "We may need to get chocobos on the plains," he muses.

[helpdesk_hero]

“I have heard of them. They are the large birds, yes? How does one go about acquiring such things?”

Were they bribed? Did the birds get thanked after they were used?

[portolan]

"There are people who catch and train them, though some people catch wild ones. I -- do not necessarily recommend it. They do live on the plains though. We'll likely see wild ones."

They are very food amenable animals.

[helpdesk_hero]

“Yes, it is wise not to force rigidity of control on that which flows free. It damages not only the thing forced, but that which is around it,” he notes, nodding along.