Failed Duties [[Closed]]

[Eidolon]

A monster held in check by chains was not the same thing as one who embraced what made them monstrous, yet chastened by the correction Eido lowered her face. A monster was indeed still a monster. Of the importance of her own life in this new equation she said nothing; if she professed the desire to live, it was not because she placed value on it, but rather it was a confession of selfishness. Weakness. The kind of shame that stained. But for now she packed such feelings away. The stranger’s own oath loosened a weight Eido had been carrying a long time, and for that she was unfathomably grateful. She finally shifted to place her kaiken away, and turned for the first time to properly look at the woman beside her. The hand gave her pause. Eido often felt a smaller thing than human, unworthy of the kinship, yet the ritualistic nature of the words spoken reverberated deep. After a small hesitation she shook it.

“You can call me Eido.” She grimaced a half-smile, mostly for the flame of sharp pain in her side as she moved. It was easy to ignore, and with any luck she could tend to it before Kōta returned to their shared room, but it had been many years since she had been in the position to take injury. She kept herself fit, but it was not the same thing; what reflexes might serve to keep her beyond reach of men like Gus did not serve so faithfully against creatures of the shadow. “More than a little rust,” she agreed, nodding too that she did have a place to stay. Her mind tumbled back, though; back to memories old. She had little cause to dwell on the past, and refused to speak about it with her brother.

“I grew up rural. In the mountains we used naginata, and trained birds to scout terrain ahead. But it is not a city weapon; too hard to conceal. I trained too in tantojutsu – knife fighting. But I no longer have the weapons. Only the kaiken, but that is meant for the vein.” It was a factual account of her skills, but there was a softness in her voice too. She offered herself like a weapon, hilt-first to the woman who would choose to wield her for a greater purpose. Reservations were buried deep. For now there was relief “Do you have family, Zephyr Lelantos? Someone you must protect?” Though it was not a point on which she would press too hard, for the same reason she had not yet named nor spoken specifically of her own brother. Eido did not think the Atharim here had changed so greatly for Zephyr's view to be widely held, else Kōta would have enacted upon his intention to accept the Custody's amnesty. She thought of Kiyohito's brother then, and of Zixin Kao's far too knowing goad, and of the risks one would take to protect the ones they loved.