soul_logs | [OPEN]

Zeratul tilted his head, brow furrowing in confusion. He didn't think he'd spoken negatively, so perhaps they had misunderstood one another. "Sorry?"

"I believe her skills make her well suited for such tasks," he said, nodding. Not everything that made the Queen of Blades so powerful was attributed to the zerg, after all. "Hm, the Watch. I have heard of it, but I am curious to know what, precisely, it is."

"Is that not a bad thing, then? The scattering?" Tassadar hadn't seemed to want company, after all, when he had lost Selendis. Maybe Protoss were solitary. Gai couldn't understand that, but they were aliens.

Gai was a little curious about what skills Zeratul knew about. It would be interesting to know more of Kerrigan. "Which skills are those?" Maybe a little probing. "The Watch defends the city and also patrols for inside things too... but we would be better used as just defenders, I think."

"Not at all," Zeratul chuckled. "Many protoss do prefer the unity their Khala offers them, my own people revere our individuality. We are nomads and wanderers, finding peace in solitude as well as with one another."

Gai could be as curious as he wanted, but Zeratul wasn't giving anything up on that front. He wasn't certain who else knew about her future aside from herself and Tassadar. "A peace keeping force, then," he said, skipping over the Kerrigan topic. "Oh? Why is that?"

"Oh. I did not realize." Gai tilted his head. "You do not find company to be good? Or is it that you do not find a need for it?" He was too social for that. But then again, he was no Protoss. Or one of Zeratul's tribe. "And that is the same for Tassadar and Selendis?"

Oh well. He hadn't really expected to learn much about Kerrigan, though he hadn't expected his question to be entirely ignored. That... Well, he'd wait to judge on it. "Because Shibusen is in charge when it comes to legal matters, and the city's defense is more important. We have been attacked more than once, and we need to respond in a better way to those attacks."

"It is different for each of us, but I prefer solitude more than the company of others," Zeratul explained. It did get lonely, and there was a sense of community, but they could go many, many years without seeing anyone else and not suffer for it. "Hm, I cannot speak for them, but the children of the Khala are more dependent on one another than my people."

He had yet to get a real sense of the city, but so far it certainly wasn't set up like a military case. There were civilians here, and nothing hinted at air defense either. What stopped the city from being leveled, then? "Understandable. You mentioned restructuring - will this help?"

"I... see. Or I do not, but I will take your word for it. It is hard for me to understand, but I can accept that. As long as you are actually happy. Because some I know prefer solitude because they are afraid of being happy, and then that is something that should be worked on!" He'd let Zeratul say which it was; Gai knew the Protoss a little by now, but he didn't know them nearly well enough to judge how they were feeling most of the time. "What does children of the Khala mean?"

Gai looked out at the city at the comment, thinking. Finally he frowned and looked back at Zeratul. "I hope. There are... The city has not done well in the past. We must find a way to do better. If this does not help, then we will find another way."

Zeratul laughed, shaking his head. "I assure you, we are not afraid of being happy. We simply pursue it in ways that others do not." Even among his own species he was considered an outcast and an oddity, but they were slowly coming to accept the differences. He paused for a moment at Gai's question, and wondered how in depth the others had been when they spoke to him.

"Tassadar and Selendis are both followers of the Khala," he said. "It is their religion and way of life. Perhaps you have noticed that I do not quite look like them?"

While the other two were all glittering gold and blue, he was deep purples and greens. The only other major difference on the outside, of course, was his nerve cords. Tassadar's still hung down the length of his back, but Zeratul's had been cut short near the base of his head.

"That is good. I know some who do not trust being happy." He couldn't help but believe Zeratul; the Protoss was laughing. He'd never heard anything remotely close to that from Tassadar or Selendis. Clearly the Nerazim knew more about life and enjoyment.

Gai nodded at the question. "I did. But I thought it was like how we have different hair color, or skin tone. I did not realize it was more." He paused for a moment, suddenly realizing that this meant Tassadar had actually been lonely when Selendis left... and apparently Gai hadn't reached out correctly. Or enough. "...How does one get cloesr to a follower of the Khala? Because Tassadar was alone for a time, but I did not manage to make him feel better."

If he spent enough time around him, Gai would find Zeratul to be just as deadly serious and dramatic as the other two. It was a conscious effort on his part to remain distant from the emotions that would drag him there, though. No one else needed to share in his burdens except himself.

"It is certainly more," he nodded. "My heritage is quite different from theirs, though we are all still protoss."

Zeratul hesitated at the last question. To be perfectly honest, Tassadar was the first Khalai he had ever befriended, and that had only lasted a few months before he died. His practical experience in the matter was lacking. "Your efforts were appreciated, of that I am sure. What Tassadar may have needed was another protoss, and access to the Khala."

Gai hoped to spend more time around both of the Protoss. He liked Tassadar, and found Zeratul interesting. There was something about people from different worlds that excited him and made him feel like there was so much more out there.

"I do not really understand, but if you wish to explain more, I will work on it! I enjoy learning!"

Zeratul's words were some comfort. So Gai hadn't completely failed his friend. "Thank you. I... wish I had been able to do more for him. But now you are here. ...Did some way to access the Khala come with you, even though they are children of it and you are not?"

Zeratul squinted and lifted his shoulders, the movement translating to a smile as much as he could. He was already starting to like Gai, but the man's enjoyment of learning meant he was going to have a hard time getting rid of Zeratul. If there was someone that liked to listen, he would gladly speak.

"Well, what do you understand the least? We can begin there." He would be careful about what he said, though. There might be good reason neither of the other two had explained it at length.

He shook his head at Gai's question. "I cannot. Long ago I choose to follow the path of the Void, and severed myself from the connection of the Khala."

Gai rather liked learning, and being around people who talked. He wouldn't object to this situation at all. At the question he tilted his head, trying to think of how to word it. "In my village alone there are many different types of hair coloring and skin shades. But we are still all of Konoha, of Fire Country. What else does the coloring mean if it is not just... something that naturally varies?"

Severed. That was definitely a final word. Gai looked down. "So your presence here will help him, but not as much as he needs it. Is there anything that could give him that, without another Protoss who... does not follow the Void?"

"It is representative of our ethnicity, of which Tassadar and Selendis belonged to the majority. Long ago, we were divided without cohesion between the tribes, leading to the different paths of skin and blood colors. My people in particular have been removed from Aiur for some time, and thus our appearance is the most changed." There was always more to it than that, but he started with the simple facts for now. "Aside from genetics, each tribe is under the flag of a certain color. Mine, the Nerazim, is green."

Zeratul didn't like to think he would be totally useless in assisting Tassadar, except he knew he could only do so much. He shook his head. "I am afraid not. The Khala is closed to him here, and any other protoss that arrives, so they would still remain without that fundamental connection."

"What if someone was born with different colors in a tribe? Recessive genes?" Gai couldn't imagine being separated by coloring. He'd still have his whole team, but Kakashi... Kakashi wouldn't have been a part of his life, and that seemed empty indeed. Beyond that, there were far more dark-haired people than anyone else in his country. Where would the very few pink-haired people go? Would they have one tiny village, a few huts?

Gai sighed. "So as long as he is here he is missing something that is important. I see. I am missing part of what makes me who I am, but it is not crucial. It is something I can live without."

"As I said, it was long ago that we were so severely divided. The tribes were unified under the Khala and each became a functioning aspect of a greater society. Ideally, they should have been abolished entirely, but we are a people loathe to change." And some things never changed. They were dangerously close to sliding back into that violent tribalism again, even with the Khala. Nothing was ever easy, not for anyone.

Gai certainly asked a lot of questions, but he was a quick learner at least. "It is possible to live without the Khala, as I do, but it is not an easy transition for those who are used to it, and rely on it. The humans I have known are quite adaptable, and you must be very much the same."

Gai nodded after a moment. "I think that a great many people groups do not like change as a whole. Individuals change and grow! But on the whole villages and countries still keep to ways of thinking." Despite how the ninja villages were working together at the time to face a greater threat, Gai had no illusions about the future. Once the threat was gone, the would all go back to fighting. There would likely be no true end to war.

"Are you saying that Protoss are not as adaptable? That it is a difference between our races? Though I have known of more than a few humans who were not good at adapting. Perhaps you have only met good ones." Or ones who knew how to change and move.

He shook his head. "There are exceptions, of course, such as our esteemed Tassadar, but on the whole we are quite resistant to abrupt change. Everything must be analyzed and considered and discussed first, and it is not always a swift process."

The war, the loss of their home planet and so much more had really shaken things up for all of them. It was an uphill battle trying to recoup and rebuild, one that even he was struggling with everyday. "What we lack in adaptability, however, we make up for with determination and endurance. And not all humans I have met would be considered good, but I have made friends among them."

"We are similar but different. There is too much acted on in haste, but it is not big changes. It is always rushing into conflict, and too much conflict. Each country thinks only of itself, and as long as that continues there will be war. Maybe one day we will have peace."

Gai nodded. "I meant good at adapting, the humans you have met. There are some here who are not very good at all, and some in my home. But I am working on helping those who do not do well with change or dealing! Life is an opportunity that should be seized and enjoyed, instead of letting it slip past."

Even with as slow as they moved, the protoss seemed to have just as much conflict, though they had their bouts of peace. The cost didn't always seem worth it, at least not to him. Zeratul was silent a few moments, considering Gai's words.

"You are very wise, Maito Gai," he said, nodding his head. "I can see why BREW decided you would be an asset here, even if we do not agree with its motives. Indeed, what you speak of is something I, after all my long years, should not have forgotten."

[OPEN]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject