asgardeventide

[Where she's tucked herself away is unimportant, which is why she's not giving that bit away. Mother Nature sounds more resigned and contemplative than anything, and there's the faint sound of crowds in the background.]

Death is like gravity, it cannot be stopped or all of the universe begins to go out of sorts. Things unravel when people come against such things, more than they believe they are already. Things die, it is a part of existence and a rule of the universe that should never be broken.

And yet here we all are, being forced in to a fight that will be ultimately lost. Forced to take a side and prepare ourselves and others for what? To be felled in battle? To fade out of existence?

[She sighs.]

I don't know how many of you have seen war, but it is not anywhere near so glorious as anyone wants you to think. It is blood and death and terror for little more than bragging rights over some pile of dirt or another.

It is people sitting at windows waiting for their lovers to come back with scars that will never go away if at all.

It is those you love leaving and never coming back.

It is watching everything you love burn to ashes in your fingers for some ideal that will never fill the hole they leave.

[She sighs, shaky.]

Worlds have died before, entire civilizations and people have been erased from existence and yet... here we are, still alive, still existing despite all of that.

We should be planting a new tree, making new homes, not trying to save a burning ship... but what do I know about anything. I'm no god, no war hero.

I've just been dragged here and forced against my will in to a fight I've no interest in. So please; sell me a reason to fight, give me something to believe in that will work.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Thank you, finally someone else who understands. ]

I don't think there is any reason to fight, unless you are brainwashed like everyone else here! Everyone is going to die one way or another, and I for one do not want to waste anyone's time forcing them to fight and pretending they are going to be okay afterwards, when they could be enjoying the life they have left.

Precisely.

If it were something else we were fighting the situation would be different but... fighting death is just a fool thing to try to go against.

[ Feferi gives an audible sigh of relief, her fins perking up a bit. ]

I am glad to see there is someone else who understands that! Everyone had the same dream, you would think they would understand it!

Of course they won't, everyone interprets things differently based on what they've experienced in their lives. Not many have witnessed the death of their own worlds or others, few have been in actual wars these days.

They don't know what they're getting in to, let alone what the aftermath looks like.

Yeah, you are probably right. But I'm just worried that they are making the wrong decision, and they'll regret!

Mn, considering they've not even considered alternatives from what I can tell... they probably will and they'll complain about it endlessly.

It's so very human.

Or they'll complain about it for a little while then die some other way.

I promise not all humans are like this! I know some that would understand, they're just not here.

Essentially, yes.

Oh, they mostly are trust me. I've been watching them for centuries. Honestly, it's easier dealing with sharks and squid. I understand squid.

Well... yeah, okay, you've got me there. I have known some very smart cephalopods!

Wait, so you're not a human?

They're all incredibly intelligent, and far more clever than most mammals really. I've yet to meet a stupid octopus.

[She snorts slightly, laughing.]

Hardly. I'm not even from the same galaxy as Earth, and I'm older than that planet as well.

So then... what are you? Because I don't know of anything besides trolls and gods that live that long, and I would know if you were one!

I am Mother Nature, to some I could be considered a god even though I'm not.

[She was adopted and trained and kinda sorta ordained as one, and then excommunicated and thrown out. It's a long story.]

My people live a long time, longer than humans anyway.

Mother Nature...

[ She's never heard of anything like that, but asking questions is just likely to confuse her more. She can accept it for what it is. ]

Well, I like you. I'm Feferi, by the way. It's kind of sad, though, when you really think about it. Humans didn't ask to be this way, you know?

[That gets a very small laugh.]

You are it seems among the few here that likely will like me as time wears on. Humans ask for a great many things, Feferi, most of them things they do not truly want or need in their lives.

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