realityshifted | oo4 :: Wolf and Face Value

{She's sitting on an unfinished and tarnished wooden desk with a velvet pouch in her lap. She takes the pouch and dumps all the contents onto the desk, and an assortment of coins spill onto the desk. They're almost all different, with different faces and sizes since the coins hail from many different kingdoms. But she smiles to see them.}

The currency may have shifted, but the currency does remain the same itself! So many different coins, and from so many kingdoms! Fufu, Lawrence should be glad that I have little to do. Sorting these coins by the true value, what a task that would be! Especially for a human, even with the scales.

{She takes two at a time, striking them against each other as she holds them up to her ear}

Silver, gold, they sound so different. But it's so complex anyways! The money makers will not change it largely right away since it might make the coins worth more than the face. So there are just minuscule changes from there so that the reaction can be gauged.

{Horo sets one aside, striking the coin she still holds with another from the pile}

Still, they confuse themselves, it seems like. The true value of these coins is forgotten. Lucky Lawrence has my clever ears to gauge the value, but even then...Ofufufu...He owes me many apples for this!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hello, Horo.

{Smiles} Good afternoon, Hei! Or perhaps, considering this place, good night?

How have you been of late? Have you cooked any delicacies for me?

It's morning back in my world, actually. You can never tell here.

Oh, I've been...busy, I suppose. I haven't had time to cook. Sorry.

Do not concern yourself with it, Hei. I do not doubt how busy you are at the least! But what have you busied yourself with this time?

Well...it's sort of a long story.

{Laughs} And the wise wolf Horo shall listen to it! Come, take a seat if you wish. I would love to hear.

Well...okay.

[He sits down and is quiet for awhile, trying to figure out how to talk about this.]

Not long ago I was...in an experiment. It happens to people around here sometimes. Anyway, it made me believe I was seven years in the future, that I was married to--someone, and that we had children together. And it was...it was really nice. But then it ended and everything went back to normal. I can still remember everything, every detail, but...they're gone. They never even existed.

[Looong pause.]

Then a little while ago, a good friend of mine was captured and badly hurt by people in my world. I saved her but...all of that was my fault to begin with.

So...[Bitter smirk.] It's been busy.

{About halfway through, Horo sets down her coins, not expecting quite so serious of a story. But once it's all told, she sets a hand on his shoulder}

Very busy, it would so seem. And you feel lost and guilty, I would say.

{Pauses, considering it} I imagine that you have had many say that it is not your fault, so I shall spare you those words. Instead, I shall say that your family that you doted on and tried to buy such an odd sheep, you should not think of it as what is lost. You had your family, in your heart and mind, and you still do, my friend. They are not lost, and in fact, I would say waiting to be found. If you were to believe that seven years had past, then you only look to the future. You think of what you have lost, but I see it as you have had a glimpse of what you may gain.

And as for your friend, let me ask you this before I offer any wisdom. Do you value your friendship with her? Does she value it?

Sorry...ah, I didn't mean to lay something that heavy on you...

[He's silent all the time she's talking, and says nothing for awhile after she's finished.]

The future is never certain I guess...maybe Deadpool was right, that I need to...make my own future.

And I do value it. And I know she values it too.

It is not. The future is only what you make it. If the farmer works long and hard in his fields, he will be graced with a good crop. The farmer that leaves his fields to others will not grow a crop at all. You are still a young one, Hei. Walk into your field looking ahead, not over your shoulders.

Then you have nothing to worry about, Hei. As long as you both value it, then you should not torment yourself over what has happened and instead count your blessings that she has been saved. She will remember your kindness until she becomes a part of the Earth, I can guarantee that, my friend.

That...makes sense, I guess.

[Just smiles.]

{Grins} I have seen many a human in my life lament their past to the point that they cannot move forward, so I wish that this does not happen to Hei. Unfortunate things happen in life, but it will be balanced out with something good, I promise.

Ah...I've had enough of that "living in the past", anyway.

Good! You are a smart one, I can tell that much.

{A pause, then,} You have lived in the past before, I suppose?

Thanks.

[Nods.] Another long story.

And I have the ears to listen if you should want to tell.

[Long pause.]

Have I told you about Hell's Gate?

You have not. {Teasingly,} Should I fetch myself ale before I hear this story?

Maybe. You might need it.

The Gate is...we don't fully know what it is. It's a realm that appeared in Tokyo ten years ago, and when it appeared the stars and the moon all vanished. They were replaced with fake ones. And each new fake star represents a person in my world; a new sort of person. They're called Contractors; people with strange abilities and no conscience or soul. They're killers. Most people think they're completely emotionless, cold-blooded.

My sister was one of them. We were children, but Contractors aren't considered anything more than killers. I went with her when they took her away. I tried to look after her while we were in South America, during the war. But...things happened. There was a second Gate in South America, Heaven's Gate. Something happened and it disappeared, along with the entire continent...and along with my sister.

I spent the next five years trying to find her, but she'd been dead that whole time.

{Horo chuckles humorlessly, shaking her head} Is that what humans shall do? Every time i hear these stories I must wonder if humans are truly the reasoning animal that they claim to be.

I don't know if that's your future. It might not be.

It may not, but that future far ahead I will likely not live to see. I am no goddess, so I will not live forever.

[Smirks.] Although considering this place, who knows?

Fufu, I should not like to live forever, though.

No...don't think I would, either.

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