[Handset] (Audio) ❅ The Third

[stonebird]

(Encrypted to Valdis)

May I speak with you privately about a certain matter...? (Her voice is prim, proper and to the point. She is hiding her hope in case she is destined for disappointment.)

(/)

What stories are common in your world? Were you raised with tales of adventure? Romance? Or tales meant for teaching?

(Books were an important part of her life at Winterfell - and she passed much of her time in King's Landing and the Eyrie with them as well. When Joffrey and Sweetrobin weren't bothering her, that is.)

Do you believe them true? I used to believe heroes existed and that all evil was punished. (Her tone is heavy with satire, though it is directed at herself.) Children are foolish.

Comments

audio;

[akito]

I read stories of all genres when I was small. [ not a whole lot else to do when you're kept locked up, and books are great company! ] I liked to believe they were true, even though I knew they weren't.

But there are such things as heroes! Maybe not knights in shining armour, or a prince to rescue you from a dragon, but people who put others before themselves and do everything they can to make the world a better place.

audio;

[stonebird]

As did I. (Winterfell is a fortress, but it becomes a cage of its own when the snows are cold and icy.) You liked to believe. That isn't quite the same as actually believing them to be true.

(She lets out a little sigh.) I know of such people. I wish there were more of them.

audio;

[akito]

I never had any reason to believe in them. [ when you're kept locked in a cage for years, you kind of lose hope of being rescued by a handsome prince. now that he's free, and older, he likes to believe in fairy tales. ] I think that every person should have the chance to believe in fairy tales while growing up.

Become one yourself! Make others want to become heroes, too.

audio;

[michaeljangelo]

There's nothing wrong with a little foolishness every now and again.
I think, at least when it comes to kids' stories, we make the world how we wish it was, because that's way easier than actually fixing the world.

audio;

[stonebird]

Unless it ends in your death. (Or the death of loved ones.) I believed those childish stories; I believed them with all my heart. My parents should have taught me better.

audio;

[michaeljangelo]

[Okay, true. There is that.
Mike's end of the conversation goes quiet, and when he speaks again his voice is...different. Sincere.]

Harsh realities of the world were all my father taught me and my brothers, and you know to be honest? There are times when I think I'd have preferred pretty lies, to ugly truths.

audio;

[wrathfulkhan]

Mostly stories about family, and destiny, and some old legends. Lots of adventure stories. I read a lot when I was young. [It was an escape from how terrible his life had become.]

Evil goes unpunished, more often than not. Life is never as black and white as it seems in the stories. They're lies we tell ourselves - but useful lies, I think.

audio;

[stonebird]

What sort of adventures? (She hasn't fully outgrown her love of stories.) Useful, how? They have brought me nothing but grief.

(Hi, Gene, some of Sansa's true nature is beginning to peek out.)

audio;

[wrathfulkhan]

I heard something once about how stories are useful not because they teach us that there are monsters in the world, but that those monsters can be defeated. [He'd clung to that like a lifeline, clung to anything that would keep him sane.

Her other question, however, triggers some amusement in him.] Where you come from, do they tell stories about a Monkey King?

Audio: Same encryption.

[redlightgreenlight]

To what do I owe this pleasure? [She sounds unamused]

Audio: Same encryption.

[stonebird]

I hope I am not bothering you, however I was told you have experience with...looking after yourself. {She is fighting to stay confident.}

Re: Audio: Same encryption.

[redlightgreenlight]

Who told you that. [Her wariness softens her tone a bit]

audio;

[needmetoo]

I don't... know a lot of stories.

[Children's stories weren't exactly high on the Organization's need-to-know list.]

But... I do... sort of remember one story, about how the worlds were made. I think...

audio;

[stonebird]

Perhaps I could share some stories with you, then? I know many from my world.

(There are sounds like she is making herself comfortable.)

How were the worlds made? And which worlds are you referring to?

audio;

[needmetoo]

Well... all of them? I've been to a lot.

[She, like Aqua, is operating under the assumption that this world is still a part of the vast collective she's used to, albeit a very unusual part.]

I... I would like to hear your world's stories, though.

[radio]

[theideaguy]

Well, I guess my dad would always tell me stories about spirits and the heroes of wars long ago and about some of the great hunts he went on. I remember one time, he tried to tell me that he caught a fish this big!

[His voice is a little quieter on those last words because, obviously, he's holding his hands out widely. And when he's not thinking to talk directly into the microphone.]

Oh my mom, though, she'd always just laugh. We think he was exaggerating juuuuust a little.

[radio]

[stonebird]

(She can't help but laugh at his description.)

How large was the fish again? (Go ahead. Hold out your hands, Sokka.) He might have been. It sounds like he was very proud of his catch.

[radio]

[theideaguy]

[Sokka can't help but grin rather happily upon hearing her laugh. Laughter was practically music to Sokka's ears, and Alayne definitely sounded like she needed laughter.]

This big!

[Yes, he did it again.]

Actually, maybe a little less big than all that. I was really young back then, so my arms didn't quite reach the same as my dad's. Still, we ate like royalty that day, so I guess I can't complain too much.

[He pauses a bit before moving away from that.]

So what's your beef with heroes?

audio;

[denyamenti]

Stories usually have whatever purpose you want them to have. If you wish them to teach, they do. If you only want entertainment, that would be all you get from them.

audio;

[stonebird]

There are factual stories and ones born of the imagination. I was not aware of the line between them as a child. I thought I was destined to live a fairytale.

Re: audio;

[denyamenti]

That must have been a rude awakening.

[ The words, however, aren't mocking. More contemplative. ]

And what do you believe now?

audio;

[highprofilerichkid]

I grew up on textbooks and scientific journals. I wasn't big on storybooks. [It's a little bit of a joke, before he turns to the more serious question.]

But I've still run into a lot of heroes and villains. [A pause.] Maybe all evil doesn't get punished, but that doesn't mean heroes aren't real. As long as there are evil people, there will be people trying to stop them.

audio;

[stonebird]

Were you never curious about them? (Something about Tony reading fairytales amuses her. She wonders if he would like the silly tales she used to love.)

I have seen less heroes and far more villains. (Always disheartening.) The numbers are skewed.

handset, audio;

[inkulcation]

What sorts of tales depends on where you're raised. I was brought up with tales of ancient gods, myself. Maddening and cruel, and bound to return eventually to wipe clean the earth and begin again.

[She says this far too matter-of-factly, as if that's just what one should expect.]

Those were true, of course.

Most of the fairy tales in my world have some kernel of that. More than many would like to think.

handset, audio;

[stonebird]

There are some in my world who mirror your ancient gods, I fear. (Mad and cruel fits Joffrey to a T.) What was the reasoning for erasing the earth?