Post by pepsi on Jan 25, 2022 16:18:58 GMT -5
Pacha had questions.
It was only understandable, Deman thought. Given the history of Pacha, it must've been a change when a nearly complete stranger decided to pick up a sword - or what was left of it - and try to defend him in some way or another. Deman's mind raced over all the events that led to that decision: the storm, metting with Pacha's little group, eating in front of the fire with all of his comrades, learning Pacha and the Professor's history.
"Why did I stand up for you..."
He said, almost questioning himself. But the answer was already clear. "Pacha, you and your friends showed us kindness. We were stranded, and you could just as easily have robbed us of the little valuables we managed to salvage. But you didn't, and why is that?" Deman flipped the question right back at Pacha; but he knew the answer - no, both of them knew the answer.
"Despite all you've been through, you still have some good in you. You've been hunted by people of my race, so you had every reason to distrust me. But somewhere at the back of your mind, you won't give in to the opportunism. You won't let that define yourself."
"I don't let my past define myself either."
At that point, Deman was just letting his train of thoughts flow directly from the mind to the mouth. "The easy answer would be that I just wanted to thank you, but that wouldn't be the whole story." He was figuratively extending his hand into the darkness, trying to reach exactly what was it that made him act that way; he was frantically trying to grasp at nothing, hoping to find something to say. And then he found it.
"We all have the power to shape the world around us. I decided that the world where I didn't just leave you there, was the world I wanted to live in."
The power to shape the world around one's self. An ancient art, descended down a virtual bloodline from the very first who invented it, through Deman's teacher, to Deman himself. To outsiders, it would almost look like magic, what Deman could do. But it wasn't: it was just the power of his will and intellect, embedded into reality.
Of a sudden, it all came to him: how to defeat his shield-wielding opponent, how to retrieve the Professor, how to set things back onto the right track. He had figured it all out.
Deman chuckled, and laid down on the sand completely. "Oh, dear. I think this might be the hit on the head I got earlier doing the talking. What do you think, Pacha?"
"You don't think you have that power, too?..."