video. (seelie court only) | a vision.

[rube]

[ben is nervous, but not because he's about to share another vision, but because of what he knows is about to come. he's not entirely sure if it's all relative, but he'd been hoping it wouldn't happen so soon. the winter had been a harsh one. for a lot of people, this may be the first time they've seen, let alone spoken to, ben in a long time.

he finally speaks, his voice even but urgent. he seems to finally be ready to speak of his vision.]

It might be too late to change anythin', but I saw somethin' over the winter. It's hard to describe if you haven't seen it, but it's all important, even if it ain't gonna happen right away.

[he lets out a sigh, rubbing his temples,]

Black line in the horizon, only gettin' bigger. Far as I know, it's the Void-- that ain't news. It's comin'. There was-- there was a head, no body, and arrows hittin' the beach. There was some kinda noise there, too. Damn loud, if you ask me. Then the birds came, bigger than anythin' I've seen before, grabbin' at snakes as big as them.

[he pauses; he doesn't look thrilled at what he's about to say.]

The Shuck was eatin' the White Hart. [he licks his lips, gaze hardening,] Whatever's out there, we got to prepare ourselves.

[the feed ends.]

Comments

[rube]

[he sounds somewhat exasperated, but not with gilgamesh, with himself.]

Didn't see nothin' else, just the end.

[which could very well change, depending on the circumstances and if anything was done to stop it. the hart could be saved beforehand, the shuck could have been eating something else-- it's open to interpretation.]

[babbylon]

[Just the end.

So this was what fear tasted like. He'd almost forgotten. There's an audible sigh on his end, an unseen shake of his head. This must've been what Aslan had shown him; this must've been the same ill omen.]

As I'm sure you'll discern, you're not the only one to experience this... vision. But that's all it is.

[For now. His voice projects confidence even as he feels more than a little shaky despite himself.]

I would not test the patience of that black beast, however. Do not trust it under any circumstances.

[rube]

No-- no, you don't understand. This ain't just a vision. I seen things like this before. You best start believin' in it, too. It ain't goin' away.

[he pauses, choosing his next words carefully,]

I trust the Black Shuck more than anythin' [the monarchs] else here. If he got a warnin', you listen. But if you don't believe me, it ain't my problem. I'm just tryin' to help.

[babbylon]

[Fine. He'll bite. A little. Reluctantly.]

And what else have you seen in the past? I presume something of note for you to bother bringing it up at all.

[rube]

I saw the dead risin' up way back, then the Jabberwock comin' for us and Caer Scima bein' destroyed. this ain't gonna go away, no matter how much you want it to.

[this is his way of saying wake up and smell the coffee, gilgamesh.]

[babbylon]

[Feels more like getting pure shit ground up in your face with some asshole insisting it's espresso. Don't even start with this.]

All before it happened? Every last bit of it?

[rube]

[he's starting and he will make you deal with it.]

Sometimes it don't all happen immediately-- time don't work like that in what I see, but yeah-- It all happened, unless we did somethin' to prevent it.

[babbylon]

So you're a freak?

[Well, he's starting something, alright...]

Or else some grizzled auger wise beyond your years. Which is it? What nonsense am I to believe now? I need a drink. I need twenty.

[rube]

[a year ago, if someone had called him a freak, he would have lashed out, or ended the conversation. now? now, he's comfortable with himself. his tone is stern and confident:]

No. I want to make I do everythin' I can to stop people from dyin'. You don't have to believe me, that ain't my problem.

[babbylon]

Visions are received only by the very special or the very stupid.

[Because for all his accusations of freakishness, once upon a time he was in the same boat drifting across the same sea. He can't judge him too much. Just enough to keep standing on that forever towering pillar of his above the meager masses.]

So I ask again: which are you?

[rube]

That don't matter.

[and it shouldn't, especially with what ben is sure to come. isn't the vision alarming enough? shouldn't that be the priority?]

[babbylon]

It does.

[Gilgamesh seems rather insistent about this. Or simply that stubborn.]

We've enough insanity floating about as it is. We don't need more of it from the mouth of a fool.

[rube]

I warned you about what's comin', and that's all the business I got with you. Your problems ain't mine.

[he ends the conversation there, shutting the locket. he's 100% done.]