"I'm sure," she agreed sympathetically, nodding as she leaned back to sit down on the ground in front of him. "It's tough not having people you can talk to. You shouldn't have to go through life alone."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"I stupid, think gods are friend to peoples," he replied. "I should know better, but I do now. I pay price. Stuck now, but one day maybe when Builder wake I ask him let Death take me. Then I see Two Stone tribe and my wife and my boy."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky cringed, only vaguely understanding what that meant. And also not quite sure what to make of it. Did that mean he'd personally met the gods? Were they real after all? That was, somehow, an even more frightening thought than her assumption that they weren't real at all. That meant they truly did hate her to allow all these horrible things to happen to her. That they knew she hated them, too. "Could you wake Builder up yourself?"
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Builder sleep, like all gods sleeping." The Marrow Man shook his head. "They give up four, five hundred year before and get bored. Go off to sleep, wake up who knows when. They stir and dream. Seers hear dreams, tell them to us, but that all. I not waking up Builder. Get me in trouble, make it worse. Break mind more than already broken. Maybe I forget family, maybe I forget me. Maybe I only, only eat and never stop. Not worth risk."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky nodded. Perhaps she should be less skeptical about Seers, if Marrow Man also believed in them as much as Gaius seemed to. She made a mental note to ask Zander about it, once she stopped being so pissy at him. Perhaps she owed him an apology in the morning.
As matter of fact, she definitely owed him an apology. She owed all of them an apology. She'd been snippy and cold and withdrawn for four days straight. And none of them deserved it. Every last one of them was trying to help her, and she was petulantly lashing out as their reward.
"I hope he wakes up soon, then," she murmured. "And that he'll listen to reason once he does. You've more than paid your penance."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Maybe." The Marrow Man didn't sound hopeful. "Maybe he stupid and thick in head. Maybe gods waking up not so good for humans." He offered her his other leg tentatively. "Fix other foot?"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"Sure." She nodded and pushed herself back to her knees rather than sitting down, then bent down and very carefully tied this poultice in place, too.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
The Marrow Man kept quiet this time, then relaxed substantially. "Thank you," he said again. "You good person, Ky Ruiarc." He stood, testing his feet by walking a few steps. "Still hurt but not so much. Better tomorrow."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
She smiled at that -- perhaps the first genuine one that she'd had since leaving the gates of Caracal Keep. "I'm glad I could help."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
He nodded to her, then sighed and looked at the bear. "You know way back?" he asked her. "It getting late. I finish eating, getting very hungry again."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky nodded, pushing herself to her feet. She wasn't sure, in fact. And she also wasn't sure that she wanted to carry a bear hide with her all the way back, either. For one, it was going to be heavy and the snowdrifts were already so hard to trudge through. For another, it smelled of blood, and would only attract gods knew what other creatures. She'd -- somehow-- made friends with Marrow Man. She didn't want to test her luck a second time by running into a mountain cat along the way.
Still, she wasn't sure what it would mean for her if he got too hungry. Did he go full-werewolf and become unable to control his bloodlust? Was she next, if she didn't let him get back to the bear? Maybe. She needed to remember that he was as big of a threat to her as anything else in these woods. Even though it felt much safer here than it had in her miserable walk here.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
The Marrow Man looked back at the bear hide, giving it a pat. "I clean for you," he said finally. "I bring when finished. You go back alone?'
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky hesitated, not sure what to say to that. Part of her was relieved at the thought of not having to be the one to carry it; but the rest of her was uneasy at the thought of him getting near to the rest of the family. But, then, she supposed he could have attacked them earlier if that's what he wanted to do.
Besides, her refusing his help didn't mean he had to stay away from the camp regardless. For all she knew, he may follow behind her anyhow and still come. It's not like she could stop him if he wanted to come attack their camp, and they both knew it, skin aside.
"Sure." She picked the knife up and offered it to him handle-first. "Thank you."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Your knife, not mine." He held up his hands to refuse it. "I cut skin my way, no worry. I fix it up for you and in five days you have it." He pointed. "Your camp that way, straight line maybe twenty minute."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"Five days--?" Was he going to follow them? Had he been following them? She turned the knife around and very gently slid it into her pocket, deciding it was probably good for her to take it anyway. It wasn't like she could protect herself if anything attacked her on the walk back. But it was nice to pretend like she could.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
