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Post by Random NPC on Jul 25, 2006 22:07:40 GMT -5
Arkady had had enough. The team had fooled around long enough. They were already fracturing and he was not about to watch one of the best teams Red Fountain ever produce be shattered beyond repair.
He stormed into Riven's room, roughly grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him to the main room. "Sit. Good boy," he snapped. He repeated the process with Sky and Brandon, before walking back in for the last time with a furious Christine draped over his shoulder.
He dropped her uncerimonously on Riven's lap. "Awwwww, pretty as a picture," he drawled. "Now, what the hell is going on? Have you all lost your damn minds or as Darkar decided to play with all your heads?"
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Post by Chris Strongheart on Jul 25, 2006 22:12:37 GMT -5
Christine flushed crimson when she landed on Riven's lap. "Arkady," she whined, feeling like a little girl. She hated being carried, especially like that.
She stuck her tongue out at him and shoved Riven over a little bit so she could settle in the chair between him and Brandon.
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Post by Riven on Jul 25, 2006 22:38:00 GMT -5
Rising to his feet, Riven snapped, "I don't have time for this. If you think you can just glide in here and fix something that broke and should stay broken, you're mistaken. Look around you - this team started off with six members. Sky, Brandon, Christine, me, Helia, and Timmy. We've already lost two members - I dare you to try to track them down. You won't find them - Helia is probably frolicking in a field of flowers in a damn daydream and Timmy is probably too busy showing Tecna his latest gadgets. And guess what? This 'team' is about to drop down to three because I have things to do too. But more than that, this team isn't worth saving anymore."
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Post by Chris Strongheart on Jul 25, 2006 22:43:55 GMT -5
"Actually, him and Tecna have probably eloped," Christine said, glancing up at Riven. "She's missing too." She closed her eyes, counted to ten, and then opened them. "And what makes you think that things can't change and go back to the way they were?" she asked, arching a thin eyebrow at Riven's bold assessment.
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Post by Riven on Jul 25, 2006 22:50:04 GMT -5
In an even tone, he replied, "Because I don't want them to. If anything, this experience has taught me that maybe I'm just not team material. I do better on my own. That's the way it should be."
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Post by Chris Strongheart on Jul 26, 2006 6:32:51 GMT -5
"Okay, hypothetical time," Christine began, earning a groan from the assembled males. "Suppose Saladin allows that, then suppose he sends you out on a mission and it's another hunter troll, just like last year. Think you can handle taking it on by yourself or do you think it would be wiser to have a team back you up so you don't get your ass kicked from here to Boston?"
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Post by Random NPC on Jul 26, 2006 6:39:47 GMT -5
And of course, Christine would throw a hypothetical, Arkady noted dryly. It was a bad habit of hers, that and her self mocking. Both habits the boys didn't seem to break her of... yet. "She does have a point, Riven," Arkady couldn't help but note.
And he was wondering why for the umpteenth time - why he didn't like Riven...
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Post by Riven on Jul 26, 2006 6:53:05 GMT -5
Silent for a long moment, Riven finally said in a quiet voice that indicated he was being completely serious, "Saladin couldn't send me on a mission if I wasn't a student here anymore."
It was a thought that Riven had been turning over in his mind for quite a while now - leaving Red Fountain, that was. Ever since things had begun to go sour between his teammates and himself, he couldn't help but wonder if he was cut out for this. For belonging to a group. For putting his own neck out there for someone else.
And the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that he wasn't cut out for it. He wasn't anything like the other guys who attended. He wasn't a prince in need of a specialized education. He wasn't some squire who needed to be around to protect said prince. He wasn't someone who needed to escape a warring realm. He was just . . . him. It had always been that way. Riven versus the world. It was what he knew. It was what he was comfortable with. No, Riven decided with a tired shake of his head, this team stuff wasn't for him. He had been a fool to think that it could possibly work.
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Post by Random NPC on Jul 26, 2006 6:55:21 GMT -5
"So, you're willing to throw everything away?" Arkady asked. "You're the top student. Why would you do something so utterly stupid?"
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Post by Riven on Jul 26, 2006 7:12:17 GMT -5
"Not stupid," Riven mused, his arms defiantly crossed over his chest in a sharp contrast to his more mellow expression, "More like necessary. You all want the truth? I'm fed up with things around here. I'm fed up with the drama and the crying and I'm no fool - it isn't going to stop. Maybe for a little while, but next thing you know, our beloved prince will do something idiotic and she'll be in tears." Shaking his head, Riven continued, his tone more scathing this time, "I didn't come to Red Fountain for this. And you know what? School's a joke. You're right, Arkady - I am at the top of my class. Why? Certainly not because of the teachers or my peers pushing me to "be all that I can be." No. It's because I pushed myself. Me. No one else. I know I'm all those other things that heroes are supposed to be - but the difference between me and them," at this Riven jabbed his head toward his teammates, "Is that I don't need a piece of paper to tell me that."
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Post by Random NPC on Jul 26, 2006 7:17:53 GMT -5
"And suppose you get into a situation where you don't know what to do, what then? What if the solution is something you missed by walking away?" Arkady threw out. He wasn't going to touch the Christine/Sky issue with a ninety nine and a half foot pole. "What then?"
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Post by Riven on Jul 26, 2006 7:30:41 GMT -5
His face twisting into a deep scowl, Riven said through gritted teeth, "Trust me, I'd figure it out."
Despite the skeptical looks of his teammates, it was something - one of the few things - that Riven believed wholeheartedly. And though he shot them dark looks, he didn't particularly blame them for thinking that he was full of it because he knew that they didn't have a clue about who he was or where he had come from. If they did, they'd quickly learn that a person didn't just get where he was at from where he had been by letting others figure things out. Some people were lucky - they had family to fall back upon when times got rough. But for the "poor souls" who didn't have that, self-reliance was the only thing that a person could count on.
As for him personally - he had been self-reliant since the day his mother had packed her bags and walked out on him.
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Post by Chris Strongheart on Jul 26, 2006 8:00:56 GMT -5
Christine flushed prettily at the accusation - which, sadly, had a lot of truth to it. Of course, she wasn't going to admit that she was known to cry because of how Sky treated her - at least out loud. She just accepted it as part and parcel of being involved with him.
"Well... if that's the case," she said quietly, looking up at Riven. "I wish you the best in all you do."
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Post by Riven on Jul 26, 2006 8:23:24 GMT -5
Nodding briefly, Riven then bent down and picked up his jacket that was resting at Christine's feet. As he slowly rose, he fixed her with a long look before he said almost inaudibly in a brotherly tone that he had always used in the past with her, "And I wish that someday you'll see that you're worth more than what Sky's offering you. Get some self-respect, Chris. Don't let him put you through any more crap."
Without another word, Riven fixed his face into an emotionless, unreadable expression, tossed his jacket over his shoulder and strode out the door.
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Post by Chris Strongheart on Jul 26, 2006 8:27:19 GMT -5
She gave him a barely noticeable nod. Someday, she would tell Sky that they were done - that she had no more left to give him, that she needed things from him. Until he was able to do that - well, she'd move on, find someone who could appriecate her.
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