o1; audio

[crimsoncrow]

—ere we go. Hello? If anyone can hear this I've got a question that's been rolling around in the ol' noggin for the last week or so if you don't mind humoring an old man, uh. I know this might be a sensitive topic to some people and I don't intend to pry if it is, but I'm curious...

_{[ There's a brief pause as if the speaker is hesitating out of nerves, but he's taking a moment or three to put the right words together. ]}

These crimes that we've all — I'm assuming it's all of us — have been accused of. Is... anyone actually guilty of them? I can't exactly argue 'bout mine when it's true on my end, but we can't all be "criminals" here, can we? What even determines that? 'Cause I promise you that where I'm from, something like... I dunno, stealing food for example is a matter of survival versus an actual crime but the more I listen to the folks who live here...

_{[ A shuffle, followed by a slow exhale. It's still so weird after the life he's lived. Eventually he'll Get It, but not today. Nope. Stars. Can't do it. ]}

Sorry. I'm, eh... I was raised in a world completely different than this one. Having the freedom to actually talk about this sort of thing is pretty new, 'specially in a place that looks like this. Speaking of, I've got one more question for whoever might be listening:

What does it mean to you? Freedom. There's no wrong answer so don't worry 'bout that.

Comments

audio

[enactors]

Guilty.

( it wasn't something he'd questioned, not when he'd first arrived and not now. there are other aspects about where they are and why that he questions, but not his crime — to the point that it hadn't occurred to him, until he'd started speaking with some of the others of their group, that they didn't all agree with the parchment, or believe themselves as guilty of what they'd been accused of.

that is to say: yes, he had thought they were all criminals.

but as for the second point— ) —Choice.

Re: audio

[crimsoncrow]

Choice. I like that one. Do you think they'll be fair with whatever they decide for us?

_{[ Not that he knows what'd even constitute as fair after everything with the Renans. You could look at a soldier the "wrong" way back in his time and wind up with more than a few broken bones for it, but here seems... Different. Much more gentle if the local population was anything to go by. ]}

[enactors]

( marc hmms first, tone mild and considering. it's not something he's given the greatest amount of thought to, the rest of it — where they are and how — taking priority. still, fairness as a concept is vague. )

It's implied. ( "prepare your defence", "repercussions". ) If by fair you mean 'justice'.

audio

[starguy]

Yeaaah, the crimes seem kinda subjective if you ask me. But I mean isn't a lot of crime like that? 's like you said -- if you need to steal to survive, it kinda sucks to get thrown in jail over it. Some people do it for fun, sure, but a lot of the times it's the only way to get by. Or the only thing people have known.

[ He's on audio so there's just a pause while he shrugs. He hasn't said what his crime is yet though. ]

And freedom is... [ Another pause, this one longer than the first. The Ravagers would say freedom is stealing from everyone, doing whatever you want. But for Peter, well... ]

It's living by your own terms. Doesn't mean you won't face any consequences for it, but yeah. That's what I think, anyway.

[crimsoncrow]

Honestly? I'm not so sure. Theft was just the most "harmless" thing I could come up with from my own point of reference and even then I'd say it depends on how you're going about it.

_{[ Y'know, just Dahnan Life Things. ]}

That's a good way of looking at it, I think. It's fine to look to others for guidance but being able to do what you want because you want to? That can't be beat. I don't want to see that taken away from us here.

[starguy]

It's a tricky subject for sure. And it's hard to say, some rules are just bad, so...

[ He trails off. You know he's shrugging. ]

Exactly. Getting to do things your own way, and doing what feels right. It isn't easy to get there, but I'd be miserable if I didn't try and live that way.

[ He sighs. ]

I do miss being in space, though. But freedom isn't just about whether you can go off-planet whenever you want, I guess.

audio

[grappler]

It depends on who you ask, for the first question.

[she's quiet for a minute, before speaking again:]

That's kinda deep to ask to a bunch of strangers. You having a crisis or something?

[crimsoncrow]

A crisis? Nah. It's an honest question, that's all. I spent the last thirty years fighting as a former slave, so I'm curious. Everything about this world is so much different from mine, including the people.

_{[ Especially the people. These... "Chosen" like himself. It's strange, but interesting all at once. ]}

[grappler]

Yeah, we're mashed up with a lot of weird people here.

["weird" doesn't have to mean different in this case, Vi.

she sighs.]

Freedom to me is just not having to live under someone else's thumb. Not having to look over my shoulder for the next round of bullshit.

audio

[meiren]

Does being guilty matter for an accusation?

[ Well, that probably depends on the accuser, but it's not going to stop Zhou Zishu from being a cynic. ]

Why do you ask? Either.

[crimsoncrow]

If someone accused you of... Uh, work with me for a sec, would'ya? If you were accused of stealing a ship when you've never even set foot near a body of water, would you actually accept it? Or fight back against the accusation?

_{[ So it's a bit of a stretch to steal an entire cargo ship but it's the wildest thing he could come up with on short notice. He's trying, okay? ]}

I'm asking outta curiosity. That's all.

[meiren]

I misspoke. What I meant was, when did innocence ever stop an accusation? Or a conviction?

Would fighting back matter?

audio

[menancia]

[Zephyr is someone that Dohalim had known of through reputation back home— circumstances had kept them from meeting there, but he had heard about him often enough from Alphen, from Law. Meeting him here has been surreal in its own right, but not having been present in Cyslodia himself, Dohalim imagines it must be much more jarring for the others. Regardless, they have not had the chance to talk at length since meeting, not on their own, but the former Lord imagines they have a great deal to talk about— or might, if Zephyr is willing.]

I am certainly guilty of mine.

[His voice is quiet, even and somber, but there is no hesitation in it.]

I do not know that I have the right to speak to you about freedom, but I certainly have thoughts of my own on the subject.

[crimsoncrow]

<sub>[ Likewise, Zephyr has only vaguely heard of this particular Lord in passing. Perhaps not by name until Law, but you spend enough time eavesdropping on Renan encampments and it's not too strange to hear chatter about the various ones spread across Dahna. Up until Cyslodia of course Zephyr only had the "privilege" of encountering Calaglia's last four so to actually be living under the same roof as a Renan whom he might've fought against was still, uh.

It's an adjustment period no matter how open-minded he tries to be.

(On the upside he doesn't feel his hackles going up like he had with the last Renan he'd spoken to outside of Dohalim and Shionne in this world. Small victories, right?) ]</sub>

Huh.

_{[ What's still wild to him is to hear a Renan admit they'd made mistakes - that admission of guilt is all he needs to make Zephyr's own decision easier. ]}

I'll admit I'm a little skeptical hearing a Renan say anything like that, but... Hell, let's hear it. Surprise me.

_{[ Law says he's not like other Lords. This is Zephyr's way of saying prove it to me. ]}

voice

[baldrshand]

Mine is certainly not true. It charges me with something I fought against at home.

As for your second question... I don't know if I've ever thought about it in such definite terms. [There's a pause as she contemplates it.] Perhaps it's about not having to fear those with power.

[crimsoncrow]

Like a rebel or something?

_{[ He can drink to that, bro. ]}

I think that's possible. Not saying it'd be easy to do, but... So far I'm liking what I'm hearing.

voice

[counterattack]

[ oh look, it's the Bad Subject. FIRMLY: ]

I'm not guilty.

[ partly for Zephyr, since he asked, but he mostly just wants Those Who Are Obviously Listening to hear him. ]

...But yeah. You're right, and we should talk about it. Even if someone were guilty, what right do they have to accuse us?

[ let's just... leave the freedom question, for now. ]

[crimsoncrow]

You haven't done anything to be guilty of, kid.

<sub>[ At least, he's assuming as much. Being the Bad Subject it's something that Zephyr hasn't quite been able to bring himself to actually ask about, especially because he knows that particular ball would be thrown back into his hands and he'd be unable to answer. He doesn't want people trying to say it wasn't his fault when, no, it absolutely was. That little roll of paper had grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and branded him with the shameful truth and though it's not easy, he'll carry it for the rest of his life.

Just like he's done for the past five or six years already. ]</sub>

I don't have the answer for that either, but it's something I wanna find out. The bigger thing that's been bugging me — for those of us who are — is how do they know what we've done?

[wishupona]

I mean, I guess sometimes things are only a crime depending on how you look at them. I was just doing what I thought was right. Maybe that's wrong to some people, but if they were right then I'd much rather be wrong. If that makes sense?

[She's trying, but this is the closest she's actually come to addressing what her sentence even is. It's not something she'd really planned on just revealing.]

I would have said that freedom was an easy concept to explain once, but now? It's a lot more complicated than I ever would have guessed at the start. It's definitely hard to describe.

[crimsoncrow]

It does. I spent the past thirty-odd years of my life fighting to free my people from being slaves, so you can probably imagine that our oppressors had a nice, long list of everything I've done that they consider a crime. The funny thing is whoever brought us all here ignored pretty much all of it in favor of something unrelated to all of it.

_{[ He still wants to meet whoever did that and shake them around a little. ]}

Can you try? Just what it means to you. For me it's... not living my life under the boot of someone else. It's being able to come and go when I please as a free man, able to make my own choices and everything else that comes with it. It's too soon to tell too, but...

_{[ There's a pause, followed by a small bout of sheepish laughter. ]}

I think I would've liked to have had my own garden back home. If it's anything like what I've seen and done here, it's nice.

audio

[sisterlyshield]

[Every time talk about their contracts / scrolls / whatever one wants to call them comes up, Kisara feels herself tense up. Zephyr actually touches on something quite important and that is the nature of innocence. She's wondered herself how many of them were accused of things that technically could have been true. Shionne's, after all, appears to be accurate. And her own can be accurate in its own way, much as she'd like it not to be.

It continues to be a conundrum.

If it wasn't coming from Zephyr and if she wasn't already familiar with his voice by this point, she might take to this worse than she does.]

My thoughts on freedom are likely the same as the other Dahnans. [Which means, her thoughts of freedom likely align with Zephyr's.] If we have to commit what some would consider 'crimes' in the name of freedom, I have a difficult time feeling guilt about it. I don't want to have to hurt others if I don't have to. I won't take joy in it. But I think we are the same in that we'll do what we must.

[After a pause, she continues.]

Have you been thinking about all of this for a while?

[crimsoncrow]

It's been on my mind off and on for the last few weeks, yeah. Usually when I can't sleep, which... Uh...

_{[ The hesitation almost feels foreign to his own ears, but Zephyr knows that's how he's always been; a natural pro at being someone's hype-man and the team motivational speaker, but more than a little awkward when it comes to himself. Admitting something like this? It was never easy to do, but just like he's been trying with Law- ]}

Has been... quite often as of late if I'm honest. I keep thinking about what they've charged us with and why, and what they plan to do with us. Take our lot for instance: like you said, we've done what people consider crimes for our freedom and our people, but the thing I don't understand about it is, well... Why not charge us all with the same thing?

<sub>[ Because right now (and over those said weeks), Zephyr has been coming to the conclusion that they're all different. If they were charged with the exact same thing, surely they'd have figured it out by now. Zephyr hasn't told anyone what his own is yet, but... the others? They're all friends.

He'd be shocked if they didn't talk about it at least a little bit. ]</sub>

[incessantness]

I wanted to think it wasn't true. It is, though, in a way...

(fushi's form is a girl, long dark hair, and she sighs a little.)

I guess... Freedom is being able to be with the people you want to be with. No obstacles.

video;

[yeshou]

They're not even crimes. It's just some complaint someone made up!

audio;

[emyoji]

Hm, that's a good question. I think some have already pointed out that there are quite a lot of us. We can't all be meant to come here, right?

As for the charges, I suppose it depends on how you look at it.

[ He laughs softly. ]

Hello. You've been thinking about a lot, it seems. Are you adjusting all right?