The Wasteland and I (Open)

The Eagle God sat in silence there with the young man. His eyes were pointed out at the dark water, just enjoying the peace and quiet. His body was still covered in sand; when he shifted, he could feel the grains shifting with him. Inside of his boots, wedged between his socks. The topic they were discussing was solemn, yes, but Colin was just happy to get out of the dirt and sand. And to have someone to fish with.

…Even so… I didn't… hurt him that badly, did I? Colin had known that the question would be a bit painful. He had forced Steiner to explore his past, to dip his head back into memories. While Colin did not make a point of looking over at the man, it was hard for him to not notice the length of the silence. He could not see the man's face well in either case; his broken eyesight did not allow for observation that clear. A good throat clear set the mood; Colin's own throat swallowed as he let his right leg relax outward.

"…Sounds nice." Colin said calmly, envisioning himself out on the French coast. Ships passing by, fishermen with their poles, the smell of the sea in his face. It was a vision he quite enjoyed the thought of. Even a lighthouse, huh…? Well, if he's going to describe it that well… the least I can do is listen.

Tup, tup… A small noise hit Colin's ears. Steiner was gripping his pole a bit too tightly; making it shift beneath the water. Normally I'd be on his case for potentially scaring off the fish, but… well, we're not exactly here to fish. So the lanky Vizard sat there in silence, learning about the man's former ambitions, what he had wanted to do.

Colin's ears perked up at the sound of movement. Oh, who's got it? …aw, he does. A bemused line formed on one side of his face for a moment, before letting the thought go. His own sat their lifelessly; he was a spectator in two ways, now. Watching Steiner struggling in two dimensions; both to relay what he was trying to say, as well as snagging the fish.

Seems like he could definitely find them, if he stopped for a minute and got talking about them. Colin thought as the line came back up… without any fish. Too bad. I could give him some pointers; maybe later. Yet another thing he would ordinarily do was silently shuffled to the back of the Vizard's mind. …Huh. Maybe that's part of why he finds it hard to talk about all this kind of stuff…


Colin's hands gripped around his rod, pulling it back with his body. He did this motion once, and then again, and then a third time. He then let Steiner continue to talk, the line moving from one end of the lake to the other. The Eagle Vizard's hands were slowly moving the reel, his voice level and even as he answered the young man's question.

"…Well, I’m glad that you have those memories. And the more you think about them, the brighter they'll stick out in your memory." The man's arms gripped the rod tighter, rotation after rotation pulling the fish forward. It thrashed, kicks of water dashing up and then back down into the lake. And when you cast that kinda line back into your memory, you'll catch those instead. Colin's arms gripped hard on the rod, and with a crash the water broke.

A cave fish; Colin's hands gripped the rod, turning the reel much faster now that it was out of the water. The hook was firmly lodged within its front lip. It had managed to seize the bait; but at the cost of this hole in its face.

"…Well, there's honestly not a lot to tell. Worked things out with my inner hollow, got a nice big scar along the front of my body. I've got family all over the place; some I get along with, and others would probably kill me if they laid their hands on me again. But… they're still family. Nephew of mine lives with his cat in Karakura." Colin was just rattling things off. There was no pain in his voice, no kind of emotion at all. It was as though he were merely a passive observer in the passing of time in his life.

"I'm almost six hundred and forty years old. I've never been married. I've fought Shadowfall and K-World the last couple with the Vizard Corps. Then, when they made Lux Orior, I decided to go off and do my own thing. Right now, though, I’m looking for teachers and students to help me with that thing."

With that last line, a note of excitement came into his voice. Maybe it was because of the fish he was dangling in front of his eyes, though. He had hooked a bass; it was a good three pounds. "It's real screwy how nobody tells you what kinds of things a demon that can destroy buildings would do to you if they got a chance. There are some people in this world that're way stronger than others. Who could treat people like this fish here."

He explained to Steiner, expertly gripping the fish with his gloved hand. Teeth gripped his other glove, tugging it all the way off. His slender fingers wrapped around the hook, expertly tearing at the fish's jaw until it popped off. "There we…" Colin's voice trailed off, holding the fish up into the light. The underside of its body was a very bright shade of pink. He held it closer for Steiner to be able to see, and to help him illustrate a certain point, using both hands to support the fish he held. "…See what I mean? This mother to be's completely helpless the way she is now. The only thing that keeps someone like me from eating her is that it's in poor taste…"

"She'll use the bait we gave her to recover this small injury, and eventually give more fish. I wanted to make a place where people whose presence is like mine to this fish feel safe and normal. Help them learn the right ways to use those skills, and… what to do if someone else is able to treat them like a fish…"