And in the sea that's painted black | OTA

[novokribirsk]

WHO: Zoya Nazyalensky, Nikolai Lantsov, and yOU
WHAT: Two new rifters arrive, shenanigans ensue.
WHEN: Nowish
WHERE: Gallows, Kirkwall
NOTES: N/A

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puts a hand over timestamps

[novokribirsk]

She wasn't much older than this, when the civil war broke out. Alina was probably around his age when she lead the Second Army, herself, when she faced the Darkling one-on-one and lived to tell the tale more than once. Adrik, Saints, was hardly more than a child when nichevo'ya ripped his arm off.

The whole world will have changed.

She wonders what what this boy will look like then, if he lives to see the end of this war.

"So they're happy to use you while they need you," she says scornfully. "As long as you're good little soldiers. And when they don't, you'll go back to being unnatural, witches."

She's only passingly familiar with the concept of Circles, but she can tell already that she's going to hate it.

does the same shhhhh

[inkindled]

"Yeah," Matthias agrees, readily, and just as scornfully. Well. "That's what I think, leastways. Me and others. I'd like for it to be a long-term thing, right, for them really to give a damn about us, but I reckon I know too much about how it all works now. The only one that gives a damn about us, really, is us. Most everyone else only wants something."

He folds his arms over his chest, satisfied with this assessment. It might be cynical, and he might be exaggerating just how much he actually knows. Better, maybe, to say that he's gleaned this hardened wariness from others who might actually know. But that's nearly the same thing, isn't it? Either way, he knows.

"But you only have got an army, where you're from. There's none of that shit about. Circles and, you know, choices and politics and votes and all. That's brilliant. I wish it were so easy here. The First Army," and there might as well be little sparkles around the words, with the amount of reverence Matthias gives. "Who's in the Second Army, then, when it's at home?"

handclasp

[novokribirsk]

"Some things don't change."

Nikolai is, of course, different; but most otkazat’sya only care for Grisha for the distance they give them, for the peace they buy them.

"The Second Army," she corrects — not ungently, actually. Don't tell anyone. "The First Army is for those without powers. We call them otkazat’sya. I don't know what you would here."

She hasn't heard of any equivalent term, actually. Just mages for those with power, and nothing for those without. She doesn't like that, now that she stops to think about it.

"There's a draft, for all children of a certain age. We have nothing but enemies at our borders, so our military needs all the help it can get."

[inkindled]

"Oh, you said that before, sorry. Right. Oat-katz-zatya." The word is clumsy in his mouth and definitely not pronounced correctly, but he did say he was sorry. "S'ppose we'd only say soldiers. Or knights, or Templars, even, I s'ppose," but even to Matthias, none of those answers really seem right to describe what she's getting at. Why would there be a name for someone without magic? It's mages or not-mages. And Templars are absolutely something different besides.

"But you weren't drafted, were you? To the Second Army? That was different, obviously." I'd think it would be the opposite, y'know? First for mages--Grisha, sorry--and second for everyone else, 'cos they'd not be as useful. I wonder why it's the other way around. D'you know?"

This endless stream of words and questions he doesn't apologize for, but he should, probably.