[An Elegant Weave] A Better Career (Open, Continued)

[Ash Sentry]

Ash blinked, and her gaze slid to her lap, where her hands fidgeted nervously. "Whether it was given to me by evil or good beings, it is a curse," she said softly. The fire's reflection danced craftily in her haunted golden-brown eyes. "I cannot control it. It makes me sick with fever and pain for days on end until I'm finally able to write the prophecy. I hate it." Her last words were spoken shakily, filled with fear and anger and pain. She drew in a sharp breath and closed her eyes warily against the memories.

[Nero Czan]

Nero looked over his shoulder for a moment, taking in the full gravity of her answer. "I see. I'm sorry I pried. Forgive me." He casually wrapped up the set he was on before sitting down next to her. "Sometimes the cards we're dealt aren't always what we want them to be. But I feel that shunning them away and repressing the memories that make you unique is a true curse." He laid back a bit and closed his eyes, letting his own memories flow. "I spent a full year pushing away the memories of my village, thinking that if I didn't remember the blaze and murder, than perhaps I could be at peace." His smirk emerges for a moment, almost as if reacting to himself, "What a fool I was.. I was never further away from peace than that year. Constantly having nightmares, frustrated and scared, not knowing when the thought would come back to my mind. It was literally dreadful." He propped himself back up and kindly throws his arm around her shoulder, gently consoling her. "But you know what, I got tired of it. I got tired of the fear and depression and remorse, and asked myself, 'Would they want me to remember them like this? In a haze of death and fear?' So I stopped. I stopped pushing back the memories, and let them flow all around me, and you'd be surprised what I found when I actually looked deep enough. I saw the men I grew up with, naked, fighting with all their might to protect their home; I found a cousin, arrow through his breast, slash down a cowardly foe; and most of all, I found peace... peace in the knowledge that I was there in their finest hour, where the gods tested us, and we did our mortal best." Nero wasn't used to this much emotion and speech, and honestly was getting a little embarrassed through it. "I guess the moral of the story is, sometimes it's better to take the brunt of the pain, and fight it head on, then to live the rest of your life in subtle, self-inflicted agony..." He pulled back his arm and threw them back behind his head as he gently laid himself down on the rocky floor, shy and trying to avoid eye-contact, hoping to return to the safeties of his mind. That was somewhat of a lie however, as he really was hoping she would continue this, as deep, deep down, he actually enjoyed the company, and he enjoyed the chance to help this young and beautiful maiden change her life around.

[Ash Sentry]

Ash smiled softly, and a little bitterly, as she nodded. "I'll get there, I suppose. Someday," she murmured, barely audible, still gazing thoughtfully at the fire.

[Nero Czan]

He laid there with a smirk for a few moments, and swiftly got to his feet. He patted her on the shoulder and started walking out, "We'll get there. I guess we might as well get there together..." He casually resumed his exercise where he left off, and drew back into the reserved recesses of his mind.