preyforheaven (preyforheaven) wrote,
@ 2013-07-10 18:43:00

New AU: Salvation
It was the first personal contact he'd had in so very long. He didn’t know it was 800 years, but it had been so long in the dark.

The Crusader felt his savior's mind directly, just a little. Careful, considered, firm thoughts. Someone who wasn't a mental collection of shattered porcelein himself might have felt the scars more, but to the young -- still young, in so many ways -- soldier, it was stability. It was a bright shining glimmer in the darkness. It was the nearest thing to Heaven.

As soon as he was fully unearthed, he sank to his knees.

He clasped his hands in front of him and held them out. That was how these things were Done, after all.

He'd never had a liegelord before. He remembered, vaguely, his critical view of Eobar's slaughter of civilians on the order of an unworthy 'superior'. The False God had, it turned out, been more of the same.

This, this was the real thing. And if it became necessary, Paris Bennet would do absolutely anything he had to to make sure he was never alone again.

"If you will have me, I am your man."

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	preyforheaven 2013-07-11 02:59 am UTC (link)
	"There were rumors, Sir, of someone else who was different. Some...thing else. I found him. Thought he could stop the repression. Help me improve myself. He... did. I... did not mind the pain. It was what he demanded after..." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	gotham_knight 2013-07-11 03:31 am UTC (link)
	He gives an encouraging nod for Paris to continue. He'd perhaps ask what had been done that had caused the pain, but later. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

preyforheaven
2013-07-11 03:46 am UTC (link)

Paris swallows. "I had this friend, Sir. An Englishman. We'd been travelling alone. I'd dragged him away from Acer because... because damn his orders, those were women and boys and men with their arms bound behind their backs and my friend was... and he wasn't going to give into that. He wasn't going to become that. Damn his orders, it wasn't going to happen. I dragged him off, told him we'd find a quest that was worth it. Not ....that. It was... good, for a while. But then we fought. He called me a heretic, and left, and I kept going to find what I was looking for. And when I did... when the False God was done, and I was... this... my friend was there. He and that witch of his had come looking for me. He was worried...." The glow gets stronger.

"I would have done anything else that monster wanted... but he wanted my friend and his harlot dead. It wasn't going to happen." The green-gold energy didn't just crackle in his eyes. It whipped up the sand, and Paris didn't even notice for a while.

Suddenly he caught himself, straightened, cleared his throat. "But of course... 800 years... they are... long at rest, no doubt. You will not need to worry, Sir, about my refusing any request you might have."

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gotham_knight
2013-07-11 04:00 am UTC (link)

As the sand whips up around them, Bruce takes note, not just of the story, but it's effect on the man, and in turn...how his powers responded.

But the story told him more about the man in front of him, what he valued, what he'd do, his limits and...what he could do in the wrong hands.

"We all have our limits, what we won't do," he said and tilted his head to a point in the distance, implying 'follow me'. As he turned and began walking, Bruce had to correct something. "You have no obligation to follow any of my requests, Sir Bennett. What quest you choose for yourself now is up to you, and not me."

"What did the False God do to you?"

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preyforheaven
2013-07-11 04:09 am UTC (link)

"Understood, Sir. But... I would appreciate your opinion." It seems more delicate than begging him not to leave him.

He follows, shrugging slightly as the crackling subsides. "I attacked him, he was stronger. Possibly he could not destroy me, or perhaps he just knew being buried alive would be worse. I was... frozen, somehow. I would never have gotten out if you had not come."

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	gotham_knight 2013-07-11 04:13 am UTC (link)
	Well, it seems whatever great power it took to trap the man down there had been undone by a wanderer with too much curiosity. And now he had to deal with the consequences of that. "And what did the False God do to you to make you...'this' as you put it?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	preyforheaven 2013-07-11 04:20 am UTC (link)
	"There were... metal attachments? I do not have the right learning. It seemed...unearthly." He clearly just didn't have words for the technology. But he did add, darkly, "The butchers at Acer would have loved such tricks." A shrug. "He said if I survived the pain, it would bring out the rest of what I was. It did." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

gotham_knight
2013-07-11 04:23 am UTC (link)

The bottled anger was back, and again restrained, his jaw said it all. But this time it was at the False God who'd clearly tortured this man into...servitude really. His hand closed around the piece of shrapnel in his pocket, determined to figure out more of what it was.

Bruce turned away and walked a little faster, still inwardly fuming at the injustice of it. "It won't happen again, we won't let it happen," he said through his teeth.

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preyforheaven
2013-07-11 04:37 am UTC (link)

"Yes, Sir," Paris says simply.

Not wanting to contribute to further stress, he's silent for the rest of their walk, until it's time to prepare for the night.

...One things clear, however long he spent wandering the desert before he was buried, Paris had become well-practiced at the basics of survival in such circumstances.
...of course, building a fire is much easier for him now. The work almost does itself.

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gotham_knight
2013-07-11 04:41 am UTC (link)

Once it becomes clear that his travelling companion was quite good at setting up camp, and starting fires, Bruce makes sure to observe the man at work, seeing what he can pick up to add to his own skill set.

When the fire's built and they're sitting by it in silence again, he'll finally speak up again. "Earlier...you said you'd appreciate my opinion. On what exactly?"

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preyforheaven
2013-07-11 04:48 am UTC (link)

"On a great deal of things, Sir. I ...suspect much will be difficult to understand, when even the language has changed so much... I have no information. I do not want to be decieved again, looking for answers... alone." He stares at the fire, then looks back to him. "You said I could choose my own quests, my own war, Sir. I simply want it to be clear that I will be choosing yours."

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gotham_knight
2013-07-11 04:56 am UTC (link)

No, Bruce didn't want this man to be decieved either. That much power, or potential for it anyway, with a follower's streak to him...it was too easy to lead him astray or use him. He couldn't let that happen, Bruce had unleashed him on this world again, it was his responsibility to make sure the worst didn't come to pass.

"Why mine? You don't know what my war is." Or anything else about him for that matter.

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	preyforheaven 2013-07-11 05:04 am UTC (link)
	"...You despise reckless cowards. You decide that some things Aren't Going To Happen. You did not take my hands, which means we have no legal obligation to each other, but you are the only Right Thing that I know. Sir." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	gotham_knight 2013-07-11 05:10 am UTC (link)
	"I see..." He looks far too serious and morose for a young man, but it's a norm with him that's easy to pick up on. "But you offered your...loyalty when you first emerged, before you even knew that much about me. Why?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	preyforheaven 2013-07-11 05:12 am UTC (link)
	And Paris can't help looking at him with passionate intensity. "You Saved Me." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

gotham_knight
2013-07-11 05:16 am UTC (link)

Freed you. Unleashed you. Perhaps should've kept you there. But Bruce now knows better and schools those thoughts lest the other man pick up on them. He's been more aware of controlling what he's been thinking since that first incident.

Bruce sighs, what more is there to say to that? "If you must know, and really do feel like my war will be yours. Don't you want to know more about it? And when it will truly start?" Because he had no illusions, the real war would not begin here, so far from home. He'd always intended it to start where this had all begun. Back in Gotham.

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	preyforheaven 2013-07-11 05:18 am UTC (link)
	"Of course, Sir. As soon as you are willing to tell me." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

gotham_knight
2013-07-11 05:42 am UTC (link)

Bruce looked at Paris, again as if he was trying to see how much to involve the other man. But he so clearly was set on dedicating himself to the cause...

"I'm from a city, in lands undiscovered in your time, which everyone will tell you is evil. That the city is rotten and corrupt to its very core and always has been. That it's 'fated' to always be so, by decisions of gods or devils or spirits of whatever sort." He wrings his hands together and there's that intensity in his eyes again, this time because he was talking about home. "It's not. It's had its greatness, and still does, and it's a city unlike any other. But, the evil there is worse than anything supernatural they would claim."

He stops and there's that jaw clench again. "Because it's entirely man-made. It's when people forget they can be good, forget they are capable of it, and let themselves descend to the worst levels humanity can go."

"But Gotham is capable of better, it's not a lost cause, it's not unfixable. It's not too late for it, and it never will be too late. And all those who prey upon the innocent, and terrorize them...it Won't Happen Anymore. Because someone needs to protect them, and those who would do the opposite have been too free, too long."

The glint in his eye now along with the gravel, is similar to that which will one day cause both the greatest of criminals and the greatest of heroes to shiver. Such is the determination behind them. "This isn't about vengeance, Paris Bennett. No, it's about Justice. Justice is coming to them finally, and they will see what one man can do."

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preyforheaven
2013-07-11 05:50 am UTC (link)

Paris was already determined to serve this man.

At this point, hearing and seeing that passionate intensity, he's quite sure that he loves him --no, not like that, thank you.

Sorry, Mr. Hero of Gotham. You brought this on yourself.

And since kneeling, kissing the man's hand, and offering his sword don't seem like they would be comfortable for his savior, Paris just sits almost 'at attention' as he listens, then says,
"Understood, Sir. How does it start?"

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

gotham_knight
2013-07-11 05:56 am UTC (link)

"In Gotham. This journey I've been on right now, it's preparation. One cannot go to war without the necessary tools and skills. Or understanding, of one's enemy and oneself. That's what I was doing when I found you. I'm on my way back home." A place he hadn't seen in years, he was probably legally dead there for all he knew. But that's what falling off the radar did.

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	preyforheaven 2013-07-11 06:03 am UTC (link)
	He listened, and nodded. "When may I know your name, Sir?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

gotham_knight
2013-07-11 06:07 am UTC (link)

"If you decide to follow me until then, then when we board the plane for Gotham." As loyal as this man seemed to be, he didn't want to risk his identity slipping and getting out beforehand. He'd arrange the Wayne jet to come pick them up, no doubt Alfred would want to be on it for his return.

Oh, yes, to explain the plane. "The plane is a form of modern flying transport, we'll need it to cross the ocean for the last leg home."

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	preyforheaven 2013-07-11 04:45 pm UTC (link)
	He listens and nods. Not interested in sleeping -- at all -- when they're finished eating, Paris looks at the sword his savior had drawn earlier. "How long have you studied, Sir?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	gotham_knight 2013-07-12 12:33 am UTC (link)
	He can't say if he's sure the man means with the sword or in general, but Bruce answers anyway. "Ten years now." He's still young, and ten years mean from childhood, though that likely isn't so odd given the time period his companion is from. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	preyforheaven 2013-07-12 12:40 am UTC (link)
	"Whenever you are comfortable practicing, Sir, I would appreciate the opportunity. There is no excuse in letting skills atrophy." Paris, you were buried alive for 800 years... (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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gotham_knight, 2013-07-12 12:43 am UTC

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preyforheaven, 2013-07-12 01:13 am UTC

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