Asch the Bloody (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bloodyashes) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
towerofanimus2013-06-04 07:33 pm
bloodyashes) wrote in towerofanimus2013-06-04 07:33 pm
Asches to Ashes
Characters: A surprisingly not grumpy redhead and YOU. Also, fire.
Setting: The lower forest floor, some way away from the stairs. Forward-dated to tomorrow.
Format: VAST MEH.
Summary: Burn out the old growth to make room for the new. OR, Asch one-ups Luke in the dramatically throwing away your old identity department.
Warnings: None, probably. Talk of past trauma? Identity issues? idek general Asch warnings.
[He started the fire small, but it wasn't long before Asch was throwing every branch onto it that he could find, wet or dry. It crackled, sending a spiral of smoke into the trees above, flames and glowing coals making a red glow that was probably visible from the staircase. By the time he's done, the flames are as tall as he is, the pile of branches up to his shoulder before it shifts and collapses down a few inches.
It's at that point that he undoes the clasps of his tabard - worn and familiar from years of use, years of living in uniform even before coming to the tower - and throws the heavy fabric onto the fire. The weight collapses the branches further, smothering the flames just enough to reduce the apparent amount of light. And Asch folds his arms and takes a seat on a fallen trunk, watching all the while.
If he had other clothes, he'd throw the entire uniform into the flames, but for now, this will have to do. It's not just cloth he's thrown into the flames, but an identity, everything he's been for seven years or more. All the covers, all the lies - "Asch the Bloody" is going back to the flames where he belongs, but it isn't Luke who watches. Just Asch. That's all he needs to be.
It's not long before the scent of burning leather and fabric fills the air, and he's still watching.]
Setting: The lower forest floor, some way away from the stairs. Forward-dated to tomorrow.
Format: VAST MEH.
Summary: Burn out the old growth to make room for the new. OR, Asch one-ups Luke in the dramatically throwing away your old identity department.
Warnings: None, probably. Talk of past trauma? Identity issues? idek general Asch warnings.
[He started the fire small, but it wasn't long before Asch was throwing every branch onto it that he could find, wet or dry. It crackled, sending a spiral of smoke into the trees above, flames and glowing coals making a red glow that was probably visible from the staircase. By the time he's done, the flames are as tall as he is, the pile of branches up to his shoulder before it shifts and collapses down a few inches.
It's at that point that he undoes the clasps of his tabard - worn and familiar from years of use, years of living in uniform even before coming to the tower - and throws the heavy fabric onto the fire. The weight collapses the branches further, smothering the flames just enough to reduce the apparent amount of light. And Asch folds his arms and takes a seat on a fallen trunk, watching all the while.
If he had other clothes, he'd throw the entire uniform into the flames, but for now, this will have to do. It's not just cloth he's thrown into the flames, but an identity, everything he's been for seven years or more. All the covers, all the lies - "Asch the Bloody" is going back to the flames where he belongs, but it isn't Luke who watches. Just Asch. That's all he needs to be.
It's not long before the scent of burning leather and fabric fills the air, and he's still watching.]
no subject
When he begins to pass by the floor on this particular day, however, the faint gleam of fire and the accompanying smoke draws his attention. He stops and begins to walk toward it before he can second-guess himself, even if he feels the powerful urge to cough the closer he comes to the source of the burning.
The Fon Master couldn't say he was expecting anything good to be there, but when he does see what's causing the fire, his expression twists. He isn't sure exactly...how he should feel.
Or even if he should be surprised. At once, he both is and isn't.
For a long moment, Ion simply looks at the fire along with Asch. He doesn't sit down yet, even when he tears his eyes away to stand beside the redhead, unsure if it's even in his place to do so. His green eyes are far from unkind just as they're far from judgmental. There's something a small measure less soft, however.]
I...admire your courage, Asch.
no subject
Why?
[At least he can ask these questions geniunely when it comes to Ion, without feeling stupid. Asch doesn't understand at all why people think these things of him, and that applies to replicas most especially.
Asch glances back at the fire before brushing some of the log clear.]
Here, sit. Avoid wearing yourself out if you can, you might need the energy later.
[That, at least, is standard Asch - doing his best to teach Ion to manage himself, instead of just doing it for the kid.]
no subject
I don't think I could do something like that. [He doesn't even realize when he brings his hand up to wrap around his necklace.] I couldn't throw away something that defined me.
[He smiles ruefully.] Though, I suppose it's different for you and I. [Asch wasn't a replica. He could afford to start over, as a human being. He could be whoever he wanted to be. He didn't have to be Luke, and he didn't have to be a God-General.
Ion wasn't sure he could ever be anything other than the Fon Master. It was what he had been made for. There were no other options for him--only replacements.]
That is, if I haven't misunderstood the meaning behind your decision to burn your uniform.
no subject
[He doesn't have to name those other people - Ion already knows, he was defined by someone else's purpose for him, too. It always comes back to Van in the end.]
Giving it up isn't easy, but it isn't exactly brave.
[No braver than leaving Van's side in the first place, anyway. That was a lot harder than this - the first step, not crossing the finish line.
He tilts his head forward, to be sure of catching Ion's green eyes with his own. There's some harshness there, yes, but first and foremost, honesty.
If he can't tell the truth as he believes it, then he doesn't have the right to claim that anyone else should follow it. That's the person he's chosen to take, the from ashes of the fire in front of him.]
It's no different for you or anyone else.
no subject
Even if it's not brave, it's admirable to me. It can be sometimes easier to just keep following a path set for you by others, even if it's a path that you don't like or that hurts you.
[He catches Asch's gaze, and slowly, he manages to pull up a small smile. He wanted to believe that it was no different. If it were true...then it really meant he could be his own person, and didn't have to constantly fall back on the mold that Van and Mohs had tried to wedge him into--the one that he didn't quite fit.
But as it were, he just couldn't quite bring himself to. Especially not with the presence of his original in the Tower.]
Whatever the case may be...I'm glad for you.
[Asch was a good person. He deserved a fresh start.]
no subject
Even if I wanted to follow their path, it doesn't exist anymore.
[Auldrant gone, the Score gone. In some ways he's lucky that he had already rejected them, because what would have become of someone who hadn't?
And on the subject of originals, well, this one knows better than to expect a damn thing out of his replica at this point, anyway.]
The choice to follow my own path is the only thing of value I have left - the only thing any of us here have left.
[He can't force Ion to make that choice, either. But replicas, it seems, have an easier time accepting that fate is to be defied than their originals do.
It's strange, but Asch has a confidence that this one, too, will break out of his shell.]
no subject
For a long moment, he says nothing, trying simply to find the words to piece together his thoughts.
In the end, Asch was right about one thing: their differences in how they saw the world had nothing to do with the fact that Ion was a replica. The boy shakes his head. Replica or not, he has a hard time placing value on anything he chooses to do for himself. Instead, he thinks of his friends. The lives around him that are being abused. Those are the things he values.]
If I had to choose a path to follow...
[He frowns as he chews on his own words, and hesitates. The truth was that Ion would have liked to follow his own path. But could he? Ion looks down at his necklace, still held in his hand, and reconsiders what he was planning on saying.]
I wonder. If the path I'd choose to take is one that would have been likely forced upon me even if I hadn't made the decision on my own...is it still mine?
[Sometimes, his personal values blurred too heavily with those that had been forced upon him, making them hard to discern. He had tried so hard, so often, to make a name for himself: a unique name. An Ion independent of Ion. And yet...he wasn't always so confident that he was changing anything at all.]
I suppose it doesn't matter. I think I'd always take the path that I thought would do the most good for everyone around me...regardless of where I ended up because of it.
no subject
[The blunt came back, oops. Asch pauses, and then makes a small sigh under his breath. It's not always that simple - he knows that, out of all people, and he's not really the best at advice in any case.]
The question isn't so much one of doing "good" or not. It's one of what you believe is good.
[Van is the obvious example, seeking to destroy the world in the name of what he thought was best - Asch doesn't even bother touching on it. He knows, at least, that Ion's ideals align with his own there.]
With what just happened - there are lots of people angry, because they feel like their choice was taken away. And then there are those of us who welcome it, because it's the first truly meaningful choice we've had.
[Where he lands? It's not hard to listen for - after all, he only referred to himself as a part of one group.]
If it's the path you would have taken, then it doesn't matter if you're forced or not. Throw yourself into it anyway.
no subject
Now, far more than before, he's convinced there's more going on in the Tower than he's been made aware of in the past few months. But although Asch has confirmed his wondering, none of his questions have been answered.]
I don't see how choice was involved in that. [He shakes his head, eyes sharp against his soft, round face.] But then, you know much more about what's really going on than I do, don't you, Asch?
[late oops]
Yeah, Ion, you busted him. Oh well, secrecy doesn't matter so much after the fact - Ruana already no doubt knows who was responsible - and Ion's plenty capable of keeping quiet, anyway.]
You could say that.
[His amused expression turns a little more serious.]
Among those who have been here a while longer than you, there's a counter movement against the administrators. We were left the tools to act by a more compassionate administrator that Ruana disposed of, and we chose to use them.
[Yeah, not even pretending he's not involved - it's a badge of pride, so why would he bother?]
ME TOO 8D
[Ion's expression turns grave as he listens, because, clearly, it's a subject that requires all the seriousness he can provide. Fortunately, the small boy has quite a lot of that to spare, as Asch undoubtedly knows.]
I'm glad to know that what happened wasn't malicious in nature. [Even if, at the time, it had shaken him fairly badly for obvious reasons.] And I'm also glad to know that a stand is being taken.
[In a way, it was comforting as well as concerning. Nobody deserved to be treated the way that the administrators had been treating the residents--like disposable playthings--but it also couldn't simply be ignored that the administrators had the ability to do just that.]
no subject
I just wish more people would realize what those choices actually are, instead of clinging to foolish optimism. If we do nothing, then nothing will change.
[If they hadn't fought the Score, it would have consumed the world. If they do not fight the administrators, then Ruana will consume them. To Asch, at least, the situations are not very different at all; the only real hope lay in veering off the path of complacency.]
no subject
You're right. What people call destiny is only brought about by inaction.
[If people were told that they'd follow a set path--then of course they'd follow it. But only if they chose not to deviate from it. Free will could, and would always win, if only it was remembered as an active force.]
Each and every one of us has the power to make our future something different than what is expected.
[Ion finds himself looking at his hands once more. Lightly, he clenches them. Even as he stares at them over the tuning fork, gently glowing from the light of the fire, he feels sure. His voice becomes even softer.]
...I don't want to be inactive, either.
no subject
[This Ion, at least, has always been like that - would always rather take on tasks for himself instead of delegating them. Even if all he could do was watch, he watched vehemently.
It was something Asch respected him for on Auldrant and it's something he respects the boy for now, in this war to exist after the end of it.
It's not quite friendship, maybe, but Asch is bad at friends anyhow. He doesn't need to use that word to define it; their somewhat awkward relationship is strong enough for him to put some trust in Ion, with this, and that's what really matters.]
I'll put in a few words for you.
[In a movement that runs entirely on word of mouth anyway, it's as good as a promise.]
no subject
It's startling to hear the redhead express otherwise. Although, Ion supposes it should be less startling after Asch had agreed to help him learn to be more self-sufficient.
Then suddenly, the Fon Master is smiling softly at his lap.]
Thank you, Asch. That means a lot to me.
[Being given the opportunity to help--even on a small level--was the greatest gift that someone could give him.]