The silent wolf is a hurt wolf.

[greyerrant]

Who: Garviel and you
Where: Aquarius ward, Later Saggitarius ward
Summary: Garviel works with Day care, and is generally hugenormous. Later on, he gets mistreated by the citizens of Hinoto-Ri
Warnings: Introspection

Within a day care in Aquarius ward, an 8 foot tall giant, in roughly-made white clothes and still scarred from battle, white and pink markings all over his face, livid and clear is functioning as a sort of human jungle gym. Children climb his legs and are lifted up in his arms, as the warrior serves humanity in quite a different way from his normal warlike work. He fusses over the children as they scamper away, or try to play games with him, his expression always somewhat distant, grey eyes very unreadable even as he gently makes sure everyone is safe and well cared for, sometimes carrying one, two, or even three children in his arms at one time to make sure they are safe and don't run off from the day care. He doesn't react poorly to having blocks thrown at him, or little children crawling all over him, he just faces it with the same stoicism that he faced everything else, from monster to the great daemon Nyarlathotep. It is all to the same to Loken.

Later on, he arms and armors himself once more, and walks in the Sagittarius district, seemingly looking for something even in his wargear, as if stalking a ghost of some sort. Where the children of Hinoto-Ri accept their huge protector and playmate without fear or resentment, this is not the case for the adults, hurrying away in terror of the war-machine, or pelting him with stones, or whatever else they have at him. Whispered words of "monsters", other similar comments are snapped at him, and he trudges on in a silent patrol, a vigil no-one cares about as he prepares to hunt demons. He walks on through it all, his shoulders slightly hunched forward as if in a storm, completely immune to anything they can manage with blade or gun, but hurt somewhat by their words. He has always wondered if he is monster or man, and these other men, these people he has chosen to protect, for whom he struggles to be pure, to keep his honor intact, have rejected him.

Comments

[screwattack]

"Maybe you should adjust your outlook, Cerberus... Do something with your stay here. This place is in no short supply of demand for protectors. I'm afraid the police force of this world are severely insufficient to handle the growing conflict..."

It's no wonder their presence was so celebrated by the government here as a saving grace.

Samus shifts on her feet, moving in front of her armored companion and holding her cannon with her other hand, standing with a serious weight. Her eyes are calm and even a little cold.

"There's a reason I left the Federation. While I'm often contracted by the Federation, and I am perfectly capable of cooperating, I work best independently. I don't hesitate to decommission my comrades if they threaten my mission."

She tilts her head, in a calculating way, visor targeting Garviel and locking on.

"I'm a warrior, and a hunter, before a friend. I'm sure you sympathize."

[greyerrant]

He notices the targeting, and responds by removing his own helm, deactivating auto-senses and looking on her with his own eyes.

"I do. Mostly because I've had to slay my own friends in the past for just such things. Brother against brother, I fought one of my suboordinates who was possessed not so long ago... possessed by something with your name, in fact. Xavyar Jubal called himself Samus, the end and the death. And became something less than human. A monster, a slavering daemon."

He is quiet for a moment, seeing if she recognizes the phrase, and then continues, "We both know where we stand. And I think we can ask this of each other. If I fall to... some kind of corruption here, I will ask you to end me and finish the fight."

He doesn't speak the other half of the promise, but it is clear enough. Should she become irretrievable, he'll show her the only mercy he's ever been able to show anyone as well, and complete her mission forher.

[screwattack]

When Garviel removes his helm, Samus un-targets him, lowering her cannon, trying to show that despite her display, she really meant no harm. He trusted her far more than she'd expected.

She listens to his tale intently, and... it's far too familiar sounding for her own tastes. Her eyes widen with surprise at the news that an entity bearing her name was possessing others, then they narrow seriously, brows furrowing into a deep glare. "... I'm not sure how it's possible, since we come from separate worlds... but a dark creature taking on my likeness exists within my universe as well. The creature was initially a monster known as a metroid, which had been steadily fed Phazon for decades until it became extraordinarily destructive and powerful. We called it the Metroid Prime."

Samus holds out her hand, stretching her fingers and giving it a retrospective look as she recalls her encounter with the monster. "When I had initially fought the creature, I thought I had destroyed it... but in an act of desperation it latched onto my suit and absorbed its power. At the time, I believed its efforts were futile; while my suit lost its special properties, it remained intact, and the creature was unresponsive... I discovered some time later that it had survived, and it stole more from me than just my power. It transformed into a dark creature with my likeness, an entity that the Federation and I have fittingly named Dark Samus."

Samus presses her hand against her helmet, causing it to retract and reveal her face. She looks Garviel in the eyes, her own eyes and the veins on her face literally glowing in the night. "My gradual corruption, as well as the corruption of my comrades, is its doing. Succumbing to the corruption results in an irreversible possession by the creature... a condition that sounds eerily similar to what your fellow soldier suffered from. I have already killed two of my fellow bounty hunters who have given in to this corruption... I'm afraid a third isn't far behind."

The hunter averts her eyes, giving a slow nod in agreement to Garviel's request. "If I become fully corrupted... I will lose myself. I will become a monster... Most likely, it will take over my body, and it will attempt to destroy this world... Do not hesitate to destroy me. I'm confident in my ability to end your life if it's necessary. Likewise, I am confident that you could end mine."

[greyerrant]

"Then we have an accord, if a grim, dark one indeed." He nods his head, looking over the strange, glowing veins. "Is there no cure for your affliction?"

He wonders if that Dark Samus was not the corrupt beast that he fought back and slew as it was riding Jubal's flesh, and then dismisses it. Nothing could be so easy, not in so many different worlds. Another name, another being called forth from the Empyrean. He shouldn't make connections where there is none, especially not when their own connections were across worlds and bonds of duty and loyalty.

"It is a hard thing to kill your comrades." He finishes, with a look of understanding. That is a shared pain, though his gene-coding and hypno-induced training made him feel it more than she is likely able to regret it. It struck at the very base of his loyal personality.

[screwattack]

"As far as I'm aware, there is no cure. The Federation tried all they could. Initially they believed that there were no adverse side affects and... in terms of how I'm able to function, the Phazon enhances my strength and power, without damaging my body. My mind is what will eventually slip... and I don't think there's anything I can do to stop it. All I can do is remain cautious and prolong it."

She looks up at him, and returns his expression, though only briefly. Her eyes turn back to being somewhat cold and distant. "Sometimes it is necessary. I try to avoid it when possible, but..." Rundas and Ghor's pained looking expressions as they died flash across her mind and she quickly puts her helmet back on in response. "At this point all I can hope to do is avenge them."

[greyerrant]

Loken crosses to her, and stands so close as to almost be uncomfortable, something hard to read in his already closed-off expression.

"I know. I might be one of the few people here who understands that pain."

He reaches out his armored hand, setting the right hand on her left pauldron in a gesture of friendship and shared pain, saying quietly, "In the Luna Wolves, we were taught to Kill for the Living, and to Kill for the dead. That is all we know, and, sadly, all we can do. But people like you and I... well, we fight this way so that the rest of the world can know a better tomorrow. Remember that, when it threatens your mind and core the most. Make that into your strength. Every moment you hold out is another moment that people will not know the horror of the wars we fight in the shadows."

[screwattack]

Samus glances at Garviel's hand, unsure exactly of how to react to the gesture. She hadn't really received such friendly gestures since she was in the Federation's military. After a moment, she tentatively places her hand on his forearm, looking back to his face. Her emotions were half obscured by the visor, but there was a sadness in her eyes. And a fierce determination. A strange but fitting mixture.

"I fight to avenge those who've felt the pain of loss, of injustice and atrocities committed upon them by the dark forces of the universe. And I fight to prevent as many of these tragedies as possible... My family, the Chozo, were a race bent on spreading peace and wisdom as far as their influence may reach. At the same time, they were once advanced and dangerous warriors... I received both sides of their teachings. To them, I was a ray of hope in a galaxy ravaged by catastrophic entities and endless fleets of pirates. I'm starting to believe there are others in my galaxy, those who have heard of me, who are beginning to believe the same thing." Samus recalls the awe she was met with by many members of the Federation, even several civilians who'd heard of her. Her actions on Zebes, Tallon IV, and Aether had gained quite a bit of attention. "It's a burden... but I would do anything to give hope to those who need my help."

[greyerrant]

Loken almost pulls his hand away, but doesn't, meeting her eyes through the visor, and just nods, once.

"We give up hope for ourselves so that others might know hope. A worthy sacrifice, i think."

He considers the similarities of the Chozo and the Imperium for a moment. Though they might be xenos, it would seem their self description was similar: Advanced and dangerous warriors who were trying to spread peace and wisdom. He wonders if that is how they were viewed by others, remembering the reactions of some of the planets he had visited, some of the star systems that came to war instead of peace when the great crusade first met them. Most of all he remembers 6319, where he first heard the name Samus, though under vastly different circumstances.

"Then we can fight together, for as long as we're able."

[screwattack]

"But I do have hope... I have the hope and ideals that all war and conflict can come to an end, that injustice can be purged from all worlds. I was given this hope by my father, the one who adopted me when I was young, and I do everything in my power to spread it to those who are in need of it. I would never give up hope."

She gives him a stern look, as though implying she wished to spread this hope to him as well...

"... Let's fight together, then." Samus was used to the independence that came with her job, but there was something oddly comforting about having a trustworthy companion after all of these years. "You aren't alone, Cerberus." She withdraws her hand and takes a step back away from him, giving him a quick salute.

[greyerrant]

The words that she was given all this by her father seems to strike something in him, something that was raw like a new and open wound, and he reaches down to put his helmet back on, sealing a face that suddenly seemed about to be showing real, human emotion away from the world, once again the unstoppable, indomitable warrior.

"Very well."

He returned the salute with the old salute of Unity, a single clenched fist against his armor breast, a faint clank audible as he does so.