A Hero of Our Time [Cyrus, Steiner]

Wed Dec 11, 2019 12:47 pm

Cyrus

Africa was, seemingly, a bit of a focal point for those Cyrus wished to seek out in the world. He suspected it was due simply to the tranquility that Ahura Mitra had offered his subjects. Well, such a thing was hardly something that Cyrus would ever speak ill of. It was simply an interesting thing to note.

There was one here who Cyrus had heard speak of for a great while now, who he had often meant to reach out to. But whether it be unfortunate extenuating circumstances, or simply a lack of availability, he had been yet unable to seek out this supposed hero of justice. It was time to change that.

When asking about the man, the Wise Lord seemed to invariably hear that one word which he found so very distasteful; "hero." It did not surprise him, per se. Many seemed to use the word so casually, as if it simply meant to be helpful. That displeased him, certainly, but he understood that few saw the title such as he did, particularly when it came to the everyday men and women of the world. It was one of those matters that could not be helped.

What mattered now was simply speaking to the man himself, to learn how he perceived himself if he heard the word hero in that particular conversation, well, it would be another matter entirely. It had not been so hard to find the man, given he seemed a beacon of good deeds, to say nothing of his red hair in a land such as Africa. Cyrus was simply thankful he had not stayed within the capital, given such a thing could have made this far more difficult. So he approaced the man with a smile, extending a hand in greeting as he seemed to simply stand out even from the crowd of the town.

"Steiner Franz. A pleasure to finally meet you."

Sun Jan 19, 2020 3:30 pm

DIVINE CRUSADER

STEINER FRANZ

A Hero of Our Time [Cyrus, Steiner] 6EdIfMt

A few weeks back, Steiner had arrived in this small town on the edge of Vastimian territory, and upon his arrival he had quickly gotten to work at making himself useful. There was a great deal of amends to be made for his actions in Beijing, under the control of miasma or not, and he would do his best to atone by using his skill set. At first it was as simple as helping restore tools used for farming, it then escalated into repairing wagons and other vehicles, until finally now Steiner had been tasked with restoring buildings. While not naturally a mason, his powers allowed him to be good enough for a quick patch job, and after that he would always recommend seeking more professional help. The families were always so nice, always willing to lend him a place to sleep for the night so that he wouldn't have to sleep in the fields outside of town, but he always refused.

There was no debt to be repaid for his actions, this was his penance, and nothing more. He, however, could not refuse a nice home made meal. After one particularly delectable dinner with a nice family of five who had been living in a home covered in broken down walls, Steiner found himself walking down the roads that had become all too familiar to him. The vendors were peddling their wares, the young children were busy running around playing while the adults tried to ring them in, and the bright sun blared down upon the beaten road heading out of town. It would have been a normal day if not for the man dressed quite a bit differently than everyone else and standing out like a sore thumb in this particularly not too wealthy town. For a second, he stood still, and stared ahead a the sharply dressed man, he was almost a contrast to his dirt covered clothes that were hand-me downs from his grandparents.

There was a tense silence, almost like an old western as the two of them glanced at each other, before the well dressed man spoke to him. He called him by name, which made Steiner tilt his head to the side a bit in an honest and inquisitive manner. He had no idea where this man had heard his name, but none the less the fact that he knew it meant that he was there to have a chat of some kind. For what purpose he didn't know, but he didn't mind having a talk with someone if they wished it. Though he doubted that they would want to talk in the blaring heat from the sun.

"Yeah, that's me. Lets talk over here in the shade, around these parts things heat up rather quick if you aren't careful."

Steiner said as he gestured to a nearby overhang made of some kind of silk fabric to keep out the heat. If the man would follow, once he was under the overhang, Steiner would start by asking the first question.

"I wish I could share the sentiment of this being a pleasurable meeting, but I don't know who you are. Mind enlightening me on how you found me or how you know my name?"

Steiner was all business now, crossing his dirt covered arms over sweat covered shirt as he stared at this mysterious individual.

Coding Altered From: [THEFROST]'s

A Hero of Our Time [Cyrus, Steiner] OlBPPj4

A Hero of Our Time [Cyrus, Steiner] VewULRr

A Hero of Our Time [Cyrus, Steiner] AQodtc6

Sun Jan 19, 2020 8:26 pm

DIVINE CRUSADER

STEINER FRANZ

The events in Beijing had been horrible and what he had done, the black mark that now smudged what he had done, was still extremely fresh in his mind, and in many ways caused him a great deal of mental distress. Even the mention of Beijing caused him to visibly flinch and recoil a bit behind a mental wall that he had made for himself to protect him from the things that he had done. He was trying to make things right by doing good elsewhere now, to redeem himself, and to repair the image of himself that he believed had been tarnished by being manipulated so easy.

"I'm no hero. I've done things that I regret. As your people abreast of the situation probably have told you. Beijing is quite the terrible memory for me."

He spoke sternly on the last sentence, as to convey a message that he didn't want to talk about Beijing. To face that demon so soon after having been controlled by it would be nothing, but opening a wound that was slowly healing.

"I can see how people can view me as such though...being a hero that is. I help people, its what I do, and I take pride in that. So you can probably understand how...losing control of myself and hurting people...isn't necessarily something I am one hundred percent happy discussing so soon after doing such horrible things. Under the influence or not."

Steiner reached into his pocket, procuring a handkerchief, and dabbing it on his dirt covered face trying to wipe some of the filth off in the process. He was in the presence of a highly respectable human being and he looked more of a mess than he did on most days. He didn't usually care for appearances, but the first impression was indeed the most important.

"Still, I'm willing to talk to you, Master Auramazada. As I'm curious as to what someone in your position would want with a lowly guy like me doing simple repair work off the grid. Or how long your people have had their eye on me. Its not every day an influencer, such as yourself, comes stepping into my wheel house, and striking up friendly conversation."

He smiled lightly, after finishing wiping his face, and once again dipping the handkerchief into his right pocket. He didn't avert eye contact and watched for sudden movements. Steiner knew very little about this man or why he was being observed, but he knew that if things got hostile, he wouldn't hesitate to fight back.

Coding Altered From: [THEFROST]'s

Mon Jan 27, 2020 5:32 pm

DIVINE CRUSADER

STEINER FRANZ

"No harm, no foul. Besides, its not like the things that happened in Beijing are all bad, without Beijing I wouldn't have come here, and we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Steiner raised a brow at the bow, but shrugged it off rather quickly. He wasn't used to such formal approached to apologies, in fact he wasn't much for formalities on the normal, and the fact that he was being referred to as a "Mr. Franz" kind of felt a bit awkward for him. Not a bad awkward, but none the less something that didn't quite sit one hundred percent right with him. None the less he was showing him the courtesy of being polite in such a manner and as such he would return that politeness by letting his guard down. After all, there was no aggression here. Just two people having a friendly talk.

"I can't say I do anything as grand as watch over the whole world. To be honest if I had that sort of ability, I don't know what sort of mental state I would be in with all the horrible things going down in every corner of the map. Might just pull my hair out trying to think of ways to make things better for all of those people who are suffering."

Steiner leaned against the wall, his eye darting off into the distance as he tried to even contemplate the gravity of having such a burden placed on them. While for someone like Steiner some might view that as a boon, someone who actually gives a shit about other people, but in reality it would probably be more like a curse. Knowing all of the suffering of the world and only being able to do a sliver of a percentage of good to make things better could drive anyone mad and Steiner was now well acquainted with madness. To be quite frank the two of them just didn't sit well together.

"What did you say?"

There was a dumbfounded look on Steiner's face as he glanced back over to Cyrus, his eyes wide, and his head tilted quizzically. He wanted his help to make the world a better place and to help him change the Vandenreich? It was a rather odd request to him as he didn't particularly think of himself as being able to change the world with the power at his disposal. Maybe fix a fence or repair a sickle for harvesting grain, but what he was asking of him was far bigger than that. Fixing the world and the Vandenreich was a whole different level of repair.

"Are you sure you've got the right guy? Because in terms of the scale of power and how things are, I doubt I much compare to the true movers and shakers of this Earth. I'm just a guy who can make and repair things, I'm no game changer."

Everything that had happened to him recently had shown him his limits and right now he was being asked to make the same mistake he always made before. But this time, there was hesitation. Gone were the days when Steiner would jump into a raging fire without thinking about what would happen to him if he made a mistake. Ulv had broken him and though he was doing the stuff he normally did, it was on a much smaller scale.

"Besides, last I heard the Vandenreich were a Quincy organization. I don't do bows and arrows made of energy, I'm more of a make a sword from metal and use it to fight sort of guy."

Coding Altered From: [THEFROST]'s

Tue Jan 28, 2020 6:21 pm

DIVINE CRUSADER

STEINER FRANZ

The words spoken by Cyrus caused the young man to pause and think rather deeply about the offer being placed in front of him. This was an extremely important decision, after all, one that could not be so flippantly dismissed without some deeper thought on the idea of signing up to help the world. On one hand the idea of helping people had always been something that had been a core value to him. He had always jumped in when things looked bleak, regardless of how much the odds were stacked against him, and he had always been willing to make the big play to sacrifice himself to save others. That was just the sort of man that he was, the sort of man that would always prioritize others over himself even if it killed him.

On the other hand, he couldn't help, but feel an unusual pressure on himself at that very moment. Ever since Beijing he had been focusing so much on helping others that this unfamiliar pressure seemed to be almost foreign to him. The pressure of potential failure. Ever since he had almost killed the closest thing he could consider to a friend, he had tried his best to distance himself from fighting, or conflict. Instead focusing on building, restoring, and aiding people with non-combat methods. At first he had thought this was because of some kind of penance, working himself to the bone to make up for Beijing, but as he thought deeper on the subject matter with a new possibility to do some measure of good being placed in front of him on a global scale instead of a minor scale, he found himself shrinking away from it.

Normally, he would have jumped at this chance, and done whatever he could without a second thought about it, but now he, as he came to realize, had allowed fear to take root. The fear of failure, the fear of letting other's down had now began to poison the very core of who he was, and had began to cause massive doubts to spring up within him. Doubts that were currently in conflict with his desire to help people, not just those in front of him, but those all around the world. He glanced at Cyrus, the both of them had so much in common, but he doubted he felt the sinking feeling of fear being wrapped around his throat. What if he couldn't live up to Cyrus' expectations of him? What if he couldn't be that role model that he desired him to be?

Letting out a rather deep sigh, Steiner stopped leaning against the building, and decided to straighten himself up. He never broke eye contact with Cyrus as he planted his feet firmly into the earth beneath him and extended his hand forward. Resolving himself, he took another deep breath, and allowed himself a moment of reprieve from his own doubts. Cyrus had come here to find him and ask him for aid, that was more than enough. He didn't need to fear, even if fear wished him to, but he did need to take advantage of the situation he was being handed. They had both been handed powers, given the abilities to do good, and now it was their job to use those powers to do just that. To make the Earth a better place, one problem at a time.

"Steiner."

The tone of Steiner's voice was serious and full of resolve as he pushed back his own doubts and allowed himself to just be who he was. It was no use denying himself just because he was afraid of failure, of letting Cyrus down, or hell letting everyone else down. He would never know what the outcome of this union would be unless he tried to do his part and that at least, he could do.

"If I'm going to be working with you, while I appreciate the decorum and the propriety of it all, I would rather you refer to me by my first name. Also, I would like to apologize for my hesitation...it has nothing to do with your race or you as a whole, you seem to be an upstanding individual with a lot on his plate. My only hesitation is that I don't want to let you down...I've let a lot of people down and to let you down after you have offered me a chance to do what I've always wanted, help people in need? That would be...well it would be unforgivable."

Steiner nodded as he said this, a bit of his concern seeping out through his voice as he spoke to Cyrus about aligning himself with his faction. He would shrug at the end of it and then tilt his head, raising a brow, and then letting out a nervous chuckle.

"So to avoid that, I believe we should get to know each other a bit more personally. I know you probably have a file on me as I assume your people have been watching me for a bit, but I know very little about you. So, Cyrus...tell me a bit about yourself and what you want from me."

Steiner gave Cyrus a confident smile as he awaited any information he could use to assess on a much deeper level just what sort of person Cyrus was.

Coding Altered From: [THEFROST]'s

Wed Jan 29, 2020 4:57 pm

DIVINE CRUSADER

STEINER FRANZ

"Confidence has always been something I lack, so I apologize for having hesitated like I had, but what I lack in confidence I make up for in effort. And now that I have agreed to join you, you can rest assured that no matter what I will do whatever I can to make sure that your vision for the world is met. It will be a tough road of course, but when has anything ever been easy when it comes to saving innocent people."

He nodded his head as he listened to Cyrus list off his credentials like someone applying for a job. He raised a curious brow at the mentioning of him being only slightly over two hundred years old and then let out a laugh. Not a mocking sort of laugh, but a warm one. To Steiner it had been a while since he had such a genuine laugh at something so small, maybe months? He had been through so much crap recently that this little bit of humor was a much needed break from the heavy weights of reality that had been plaguing him as of late.

"I've never seen someone so casually just talk about being young...and then admit to being two hundred years old or more. Hell, I'm in my twenties! Sorry, that was just too much for me."

He stopped being jovial as Cyrus began to get into some deep stuff, talking about how he got to where he was, and discussing some of the ideologies that his parents had that had stopped him from joining sooner. While Steiner's birth parents had been abusive, vile human beings with no love for him, his adopted parents had always cared for him, and had helped mold him from the damaged person he had been into the person he was now. It seemed as though this misguided woman was similar to his adoptive parents in some capacity and it further cemented a link between the two of them. When Cyrus began to talk about growing tea and reading classical literature, Steiner grinned from cheek to cheek.

"You're doing fine for someone who doesn't usually talk about themselves. Sometimes it is good to talk about things even if they are minor or seem mundane, it is always for the best to have a chat from time to time. As far as growing tea trees, I dabble a bit in gardening, mostly herbal medical plants, but I've also made tea with some of the herbs I've grown. Mostly makes for bitter tea, but hey if it helps you get over a cold or reinvigorates you so that you can work harder sometimes compromises have to be made, right?"

He patted Cyrus on the back, a genuine sign of friendship that he just felt like doing, and with the same grin still on his face he began to talk seriously.

"Don't ever be afraid to talk to me if you have doubts, if you have concerns, or worries. I know I may be working under you, but don't forget that you are a person too. Eyes on the world or not, everyone needs to vent, or talk about their own problems once and again, so if you ever need anyone to rely on, and talk to? I'm your guy. The door is always open and the kettle is always on, so to speak."

He let out a slight chuckle as he stretched a bit, as he had been working non-stop since he had arrived in Africa, and it just really felt good to cut loose and talk to someone. He supposed he would have to pack his bags and go to the City of Light to set up a home there, though he doubted that people would be so welcoming of his arrival as it was a city belonging to the Quincy and not everyone was like Cyrus.

"When should I make my way to the City of Light? Its been a while since I really had a place to call my home as I usually just travel all over the place doing what I can to help. I think it would be nice to settle down somewhere finally and just relax for a bit. I've been working non-stop since I've got my powers back and I think a little R&R would be nice...plus I kind of want to see this place. I've only heard rumors of it and to be honest? It sounds like quite the city."

He spoke honestly as he turned to look at the center of town, now brimming with life as people went around gathering food, supplies, or both to live their lives.

Coding Altered From: [THEFROST]'s

A Hero of Our Time [Cyrus, Steiner]

A Hero of Our Time [Cyrus, Steiner]

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