"Hm." Ada frowned. "I guess, since you can't fight. But you should learn to rely on yourself, Ky."
"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 glanced at Ada, then away. “Myself got kidnapped and enslaved. I need someone who can actually protect me.”
Of all the people Ky didn’t trust, she herself was near the top of the list.
"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]
Ada was silent for a moment. She supposed someone like Ky needed more help than she herself did. She'd had different experiences and a different childhood. And she had been enslaved longer than Ada. "And Tadaaki does that for you? What if he isn't around?"
"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
“Then I get hurt. A lot.” Ky shrugged, still not looking at her. Someone like Ada couldn’t possibly understand what she was going through. Even Tadaaki couldn’t protect her from everything and everyone. He’d not been able to do anything at all about Aleth or Aleth’s clients. But not a single other person was going to get to her while he was around. She didn’t feel good when he was around by any means, but she felt better than when she was on her own. A lot better. “That’s why I want to learn to fight.”
"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]
"Good for you." She nodded. "You should never let people hurt you. Not if you can help it."
"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. What an odd thing to say. Did Ada truly believe she was going around letting people hurt her for the fun of it? That was absurd. Of course she tried to protect herself. But biology was against her on that front, and it always would be.
"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]
They were approaching the gates of the graveyard now, which meant they were near the southern gate.
"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 looked curiously at the graveyard, but didn’t slow her pace. She was interested, but avoidant. There was no way to look at it without thinking of Papa. And not in the sort of way she liked remembering.
"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]
"Creepy," Ada muttered. "We just burn our dead, no nasty graves and stone statues. I never understood that aspect of Northern culture."
"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
“I guess it helps some people grieve, to have something tangible to remember their loved ones by.” Ky ripped her gaze away, hand subconsciously reaching up to stroke her pendant again. She was already making one of the edges smooth and rounded. She needed to stop. To find something else to let her anxious hands destroy. And yet nothing helped quite as much as touching the same pendant that had been in her fathers bare hands.
"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 suppose?" Ada had never been taught anything like that. The Isi burned the dead, sang to the night and had one final farewell, and then that was that. They moved on, told stories about the person, and remembered them with love. None of this dismal stonework was needed.
"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 shrugged, sending another glance towards the graveyard as they were passing it. “I don’t know that I’d ever want to see my papa’s… although he deserves to have someone bring him flowers every day. So perhaps I should.”
Even though she couldn’t.
"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]
"If that's what you do, maybe you should. Would your other father let you go?"
"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
“Once it’s safer, probably.” Ky shrugged. “…it would be weird, though.”
"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]
"How so? Because he adopted you? It means a lot to you, right?"
"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
