caughtinanetwork | Sermon Two

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Sermon Two

[Signless has chosen his location carefully; when he turns on the video function, there's a wall of water behind him, and a school of brightly colored tropical fish swimming past. He's very clearly in the bubble again.]

My friends, today I want to talk to you about fear.

[His voice is low and soothing, his story-telling voice.]

I have known great fear in my time. In my world, the color of my blood was a source of fear, something that drove me into hiding for a long time. Then, when I dreamed of the world that could be, rather than the world that was, I was afraid again... afraid that I would never see what I knew we were capable of come to pass. I was afraid to speak out, afraid to make a ripple in the still, stagnant waters of our society, and tried instead to live my meager little life underneath the notice of the highbloods.

But then I saw what my silence was doing, what those in similar positions were suffering, and I knew I could not stay silent. I could not sit idly by while our world rotted away from its very core, while its corruption bled away the talents and very lives of so many trolls who had done nothing beyond being hatched the wrong color. I could not wait for another to come along and demand change, or I would wait the rest of my life. I needed to cast aside my fear, to find a reserve of strength within me, and rise to what my world needed me to be.

[His voice falls, becoming hushed and soft, almost painfully honest, and he looks down, his cloak hiding his eyes.]

I was terrified. Casting off fear is one of the most difficult things I have ever done. Fear is something I knew, its cold comfort as familiar to me as my guardian's face. It would have been... easy to live my entire life in fear, I thought.

[He looks up then, and his eyes are burning, his voice strong once more.]

I thought that fear was a cloak to hide me, but it was a chain I wore around my neck. When the fear was gone, when I made the decision to cast it aside, I have never felt so free in my entire life. It was how I imagine it must feel to wake up one morning with wings, and look out the window into an endless sky. When the fear was gone, I could breathe a deep breath for the first time in my life, and look to the future not as an ominous, foreboding thing, but as a path bathed in light and redemption.

I am not afraid any longer, Vatheon. This is my home now, and it is worth fighting for. I will not be driven out of my home again. I will not let fear control me.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I see nothing wrong with flirting, so uh, you're just going to have to deal with it. Besides, I'm still a rather ready and willing guy, Tights. [Lifts his brows, smile widening.]

And that speech could make any troll want to dare the half moon handle.

[A laugh before leaning back a little, pulling in a deep breath.]

Uh, a, uh, few things. One of them is fish bitch is most definitely gone. Only scraps of her left I found in Flounder's place. That codfish.

Oh please, you wouldn't know what to do with yourself if I started flirting back. Just watch, I'll try it someday, and you won't be able to handle it.

[Signless' expression grows serious, though, at the next bit of news from Summoner.]

Really? The Condesce is gone? And she'd be staying with Dualscar while she was here?

I'd know exactly what to do with myself. What I'd do with you is another story entirely, prophet.

[A snicker and then his expression stiffens a little as well, nodding.]

She's out, I'm positive. And yeah, seems like our fishy friend's been keeping a few things twenty thousand leagues deep, if you get my drift.

[Signless just rolls his eyes good-naturedly at that first comment, then sombers up for the second.]

That's good news, at least, about the Condesce. Let me handle Dualscar, though; I'll talk to him.

Do what you want with him, but he's pretty conditioned. The salt licking scallop's just as all wet as she is, unfortunately. Besides, isn't he belly up right now? His place is bare.

No, he's back; I saw him earlier today. As I said, I'll talk to him.

Either way, it's definitely good news that the Condesce is gone. I'm not going to exaggerate, Summoner, that's a real weight off my mind.

Any other weight I can help lift away? Why did you have the sudden need to preach, preacher? Was is just because of the tyrannical tunafish herself?

[He'll just ignore that innuendo, thank you.]

No. It was something Zelda told me, about not wanting to hide. And I realized that I was letting my fear, and by proxy, those who made me afraid, control me. And I made a choice long ago to not live that way any more.

Oh, well I realize that, never really experienced that much fear myself honestly. Time to migrate back down to the bubble then?

I've been chased out of enough homes; I'm not letting anyone take me away from this one.

Good to know. It'll be nice to have you and everyone down here again, heh.

I'm already here, but I can't ask the children to come down here if they don't feel safe. Some of them might stay where they are for the time being.

[Pause.]

Oh, right. We still have the clown, don't we. [No shit, Summoner, forget where your wounds come from?]

Yes, we do.

[Suddenly filtered!]

He killed Dualscar, apparently for no reason. Sounds like Dualscar didn't even get a chance to fight back.

[Try not to mind the slight smirk, shaking his head.]

To be fair, it's not like it hasn't happened before to Flounder, he probably prompted it.

Summoner...

[Chastizing tone.]

I don't think so. Dualscar seemed pretty upset about it, and when Zelda told me about where she found his body, she didn't mention any sign of a struggle, or indigo blood anywhere. It sounds like the Grand Highblood took him by surprise.

[Purses his lips, sighing. Summoner glances away as he leans back a little, shrugging his shoulders forward with a slight wince.]

So what's the plan then?

Are your shoulders bothering you? I know of a few ways to work kinks out of them, if you're interested. And no, I didn't mean that in any kind of sexual way!

I guess the plan depends on if you discovered anything else worth mentioning on your recon mission.

Eh. [Only response to the shoulders bit, sorry.]

Nothing besides Condesce being gone and having stayed with Dualscar. The Highblood and I had a but of a throw down, but that was before I really found much.

[So that's what happened to his shoulder... Grand Highblood.]

Did he hurt you? I mean, besides those scratches and whatnot?

[He actually chuckles at that, smiling wide.]

That really doesn't matter, Signless, really.

[Since he won and all, BAM]

[That good mood is a dead giveaway.]

So I take it you won?

Checkmate. [Smile.]

But he certainly took a few pawns and maybe a bishop and rook with him.

You can still fly and everything, right?

I would not be up in this tree if I could not, heh.

[Not that flying doesn't hurt like a bitch right now...]

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