Logs:The Last Act
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| RL Date: 11 October, 2015 |
| Who: Jo |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr, Crom Hold |
| Type: Vignette |
| What: Jo's final deal made is one of mercy. |
| Where: Crom Hold / High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 19, Month 13, Turn 38 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: R'hin/Mentions, Bristia/Mentions, Yesia/Mentions, Keysi/Mentions, Alida/Mentions, K'zin/Mentions, Edyis/Mentions, M'kris/Mentions, Oriane/Mentions, T'zur/Mentions, Destina/Mentions, Sybile/Mentions |
| OOC Notes: Angsty-angst. Even criminals cry. |
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| Day 26, Month 9, Turn 38 "Bristia knows. But -- no one else can." Despite having R'hin break the news to her, Jo still had a hard time believing it. After a sevenday, it was easier putting such implications out of her mind when it was never brought up again. Each day got easier to doubt what she heard. He's dyin'? Nah, I don' think he said that. "Jo. I've been hiding it, but I know you've noticed." Of course she knew. With all they've been through together - the bar brawls, dealing with Monaco, the trips to the desert in Igen - she knew. They were the kind of performers whose acts may have fooled many in their lives, but they could have never fooled each other in the end.
Day 18, Month 13, Turn 38 He left Jo letters she couldn't read. Not yet. He gave her dark custom-cut leathers that she couldn't stop touching as he went over the final plan. This plan. It ate at Jo like a plague, gnawing her insides as she gave him the outward show of resolve and calm that he needed to see in her. This wasn't her show. This was his. She hated him for every step they took together from their dragons into Crom. Hated him for not delaying just another day longer. Hated him for not giving them just a little more time. Hated him for what he asked her to do. Loved him for what he asked her to do. The memories of all the schemes they've pulled together flickered through her mind as she watched him fight the Monacoan Weyrleader in that tent. All the roles they've played together for the sake of achieving an end led to this. Perhaps it was fitting that throughout all the plays they've done in public, this would be their final one together. When it was all said and done, the lights went out of his eyes but the curtain didn't drop. His role was finally done. Now it was her turn. For him, she had given a performance to marvel the audience with her pain. For him, she had let herself break down in front of her peers to see the heartbreak within. She knew he would have been proud of the final act dedicated to him. Only, it was hardly an act at all. The cracks came on her armor, and she just didn't smooth them over like she usually did. Not this time. She had let them scar her surface like the physical scars on her body. The only act that she had to put effort in was in the torrential accusations she hurled at M'kris. Each word stung her as much as it did the man in question. Each accusation she made was a blow to the man that had made his life and others difficult. Each accusation she made was her goodbye to him.
The bloodied halter makes it gently on the table next to the letters he left her. Bare breasted, she lingers around the weyr for something else to wear while her eyes would keep returning to those letters. Curiosity won out in the end, the convict wingsecond collecting them up and reading them one by one. The first one has instructions to deliver it to Monaco's Weyrwoman, Oriane. He didn't want it delivered by her, and she's already instructing Tacuseth to alert Miroth and Sybile that their services were needed in a few days: My dearest Weyrwoman, There are many who would not lightly consider the death of a rider, whether they are guilty or not. And yet we, you and I, enabled a precedent in the death of I'kris, our guiding hands as responsible as his inbred father's. This precedent, you may now choose to use, to follow up on. It seems fitting that the father should follow the son, when all the son wanted was to follow the father. Should you choose otherwise, at the very least, no one could stomach a murderer for a Weyrleader, and you shall be free. Consider this my gift to a woman who brought a broken man back to life.
There are many things I am sure you wish you could ask, that I will never answer for you. What's important is what you know to be true: trust the Beowins, love your mother, and do not grieve for what was never known, for the truth always seems brighter in fiction than in reality. R'hin of High Reaches
A son. He has a son. One more layer revealed. One more crack in her armor. The final letter has no name addressed to it, but Jo knows it was for her.
I have no words to express how grateful I have been for your company, for allowing me to see the real you, and for agreeing to help me when what I asked was beyond what I would expect anyone to be able to bear. You are an extraordinary woman. My family has been instructed, and they will continue to search, as promised. You will find what you seek. The note is unsigned, but in addition to it are some instructions about the Beowin trade route, and an introduction to the trading family's head, Destina.
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Comments
Edyis (20:44, 11 October 2015 (PDT)) said...
This, is so tragically beautiful.
The burdens Jo carries, she sees things through to the end.
Alida (01:06, 12 October 2015 (PDT)) said...
Oh, sweet, wicked, human Jo...Alida may not know each complexity that is you, but she understands in her guts the things that likely drive you...and sometimes drive a person half-crazy.
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