garbagechild | IC Contact

Darkness nodded his approval. Good! He approves of this and let's Walter know, tugging on his collar a little.

"Then it's sorted." Walter smiled, reaching up and petting Darkness. The Murkrows decided to linger around them however, comfortable with their current company. Several fluttered or hopped closer to Wrath, still curious about this trainer - they had seen him around the house but this was a very new circumstance to see him in. Others decided to try and perch with their father on Walter, who stretched out an arm to give them a place to land.

With the birds and just Wrath, Walter felt incredibly calm and relaxed. He did wonder however, if Wrath knew about...everything. If Envy had raised the alarm, so to speak.
"...Have they told you about me?" He asked quietly, focusing on the birds instead of looking at Wrath.

Still smiling, Wrath tilts his head-- possibly making his new bird readjust for balance.

"Who is 'they'?"

He HAD been warned about Walter-- in vague terms that never quite mentioned any true details about this mystery man who was after Envy's human. Because for all that worrying, Henry hadn't actually told anyone what the killer looked like, aside from occasionally "like France".

Having never met France, this meant nothing to Wrath.

He hadn't paid the adults' concerns any particular mind.

"Henry and his friends." Walter didn't look over. Darkness tightened his talon's grip on Walter's shoulders, watching Envy as Walter avoided seeing his reaction. One of them had to be alert, in case this meeting turned sour.

The bird on him readjusted by just leaning, holding onto his hair with his own little talons. The pair looked like a silly jenga tower.

"... Oh, you mean Envy's human. The tired man."

He says this matter-of-factly, reaching up to clumsily pat the bird on his head.

"No, they don't know about my team-mates. I keep Team Rocket things a secret, because that's the rules. They warned me about a killer who was after Envy's human, who did bad things to other humans. But I'm a monster and I've killed many humans myself. I think if a human killer attacked me, I would probably win. My teeth are very sharp."

The long and short of it?

Wrath received a warning, but has no idea his quiet and usually kind team-mate is the one they were warning about.

... And also Wrath never fully made the connection between 'being physically human right now' meaning 'whatever powers you had back home NOT MATTERING'. Survival instincts? PSH. Those are for humans.

Well. Time to make it clear. Walter slowly sat down, back against a tree trunk and lowered his arm. Some birds stayed settled, some fluttered back up to the lower branches. It seemed some misinformation was spreading about him, if they were warning Wrath that he would attack other humans. He thought he had made his intentions and motives clear. But at the end of the day, Henry was human. He would allow his anger and hate to blind him to the Truth, or even willingly tell others lies about him. It was disappointing coming from the Receiver of Wisdom but entirely unexpected.

"They were talking about me." He put his hands together, looking down at them. "Back where we came from, our world is extremely cruel and stained by human sin and evil. When I was young, I was bound to an angel and Blessed with certain powers of theirs. I hoped for a long, long time, that humans would be better than what I had been taught. But I was wrong. So I began a ritual; the 21 Sacraments; to bring the corrupt world to an end and open the gates of Paradise."

He was explaining very patiently, like a teacher talking to a student. "Twenty-one people must die for the ritual to be complete, to save millions of others and grant them eternity in Heaven. I was the eleventh to die. Henry is to the twenty-first, the last."

Well, Walter, telling people that you're a killer isn't... exactly... misinformation...

Wrath tilted his head again, this time the other way.

The religious screed was mostly lost on him-- Wrath did have some rudimentary knowledge of the universe's design beyond simple science. After all, he was a being that shouldn't exist, an unholy escapee from the closest thing his world had to a Hell.

But the only rituals he's familiar with are alchemy.

He doesn't appear perturbed by what Walter is saying... just not particularly moved by it, either. So Walter is the looming threat that they were all so worried about! It's true that Walter is a rather large human, and probably could kill other humans quite easily, now that Wrath thinks about it. But he can't be frightened of his team-mate. They're team-mates!

In fact, when Walter finishes, Wrath simply replies, good-naturedly, "Oh. Well, Henry can't die. He's Envy's human, and Envy wants him alive. We like Henry. So, we will protect him."

"I don't intend to hurt him here. The ritual cannot be completed here. If he would to die here, the ritual would fail and it would all have been for nothing. It's in my interests to keep him alive here." Walter replied, calmly. Wrath's tone is...odd. He looks up at him, still wary, trying to find any clues in his expression or body language.

"And I don't intend to kill anyone else. I know I don't have the powers I had - the angel isn't here to guide my hand and I'm not dead. I can't 'redo' the ritual. So there's no point in killing anyone."

Wrath himself is odd.

He doesn't seem to be upset in the slightest-- his posture and expression are just as casual and relaxed as when he bounced over to receive his mystery gift to begin with.

"It's probably for the best. Lust says killing humans isn't a good thing to do anymore, even if we all did it once or twice in the past."

He speaks about it the same way someone might talk about jaywalking or downloading illegal mp3's.

Walter couldn't help tilting his head, genuinely confused.

"You're not...angry?" So far everyone had reacted with rage. Anyone connected to Henry had threatened him, warned him, avoided him at all costs. But Wrath wasn't. They were just calmly talking. Wrath had even confessed to killing people in the past too. Was that part of what connected everyone who was brought here? Did they all have some blood on their hands? But that didn't make sense, so he discarded the thought in an instant.

Poor Walter. WELCOME TO THE CONUNDRUM THAT IS WRATH.

"Why would I be angry? You're on my team, and you're not going to hurt any of our humans."

He giggles a little bit, spinning idly on one heel with his arms out, seeing if his new Murkrow friend will hop onto one of them.

"I guess if we were in your world, we would have to be enemies. Because you would still be trying to kill Henry, and we would stop you since he's ours now. And if we were in mine, we would probably just use you like we did the scarred man, to complete Master's plan."

Twenty-one people probably wasn't anywhere near enough to make a Philosopher's Stone, but the ritual Walter speaks of sounds enough like something Dante would cook up to fool unsuspecting alchemists into doing her dirty work for her that Wrath figures Walter would be a prime candidate for manipulation, just as Scar had been.

"But we're not, we're here, without our Masters, and we wound up on the same team! So instead of fighting or killing, we can be friends!"

He finishes off that thoughtful musing with a big, guileless smile up at the ex-ghost.

The Murkrow happily hopped down to one arm. Then fluttered to the other, trying to stay in the same 'place' while Wrath spun around. Like jump rope! Jump Arm!

There's several things that Walter doesn't like about what Wrath said. First was claiming that Henry was 'their's' now. Henry was his Receiver of Wisdom before he was anyone else's. Second was the casual, weak ties that meant Wrath would easily turn on him when it came down to him or Henry. Third, the admittance that he would simply use him in different circumstances. He couldn't be sure that those circumstances weren't so different ot their current standings with each other.

None of this changed that Wrath was still a good candidate to care for one of the Murkrow. Nor did it change that they were on the same team, as he had happily proclaimed. But it meant he would have to be careful - if Wrath thought that Henry was in danger, he could be used against him or to lure him into some kind of trap. He had seen it happen often enough in his childhood. Loyalty was a weak concept among humans, or human-like beings. And now there was complete clarity; Wrath's loyalty was flimsy and entirely likely to change.

Which meant they weren't going to be friends.

But Walter didn't voice those thoughts. He merely stood, brushing down his pants.

Wrath's loyalty was a very funny thing.

It was strong, but also particular.

Just as Walter's devotion to the Order had compelled him to kill two young children, Wrath's own Master still held far more sway over him than any of the friendships he'd managed to cultivate. He didn't like it. But fear is a powerful motivator-- especially to a child. Even an undead one. Would he stand between Dante and one of his new friends, if it came down to it? Until it actually happened... he probably wouldn't know.

And as for Henry... well, that was simple. Envy's humans were untouchable! Pack rules!

Either way, if he picked up on Walter's sudden chilliness, Wrath sure didn't show it.

Just continued to laugh and spin.

"Does he have a name?"

... He's referring to the Murkrow, but he doesn't exactly... clarify...

Sadly, while Wrath might have an inkling of how corrupted and unhealthy his tie to his Dante was, Walter was still...conflicted in his views of the Order. In the very pit of his heart, he loathed them. He hated the suffering they had inflicted on him and the few...friends? Allies? Fellow children he had been raised alongside in the orphanage. He had no remorse for what he had done to any of the priests he'd killed, men responsible in part for his upbringing and the running of the Wish House. But he was still loyal. He still wholeheartedly believed in the faith they had taught him. Still believed he owed them for the most basic care they had given him, food, water, shelter. Still couldn't comprehend just how wrong it all was.

He wasn't sure what he was being asked to name. "My Masters?" He had to think. Who was his 'Master'? "I was raised by Father George. He taught me what I needed to know about the ritual. But after...it was Valtiel."

"Masters?" Wrath laughs. Not meanly, just with his usual childish delight. "No, I meant the nice shadow bird! Does he have a name? Or should I pick one?"

Humming, he tugged lightly at his new friend's bushy tailfeathers.

"He's very dark, just like Darkness. Maybe he should have a dark name, too!"

Oh. Walter hummed thoughtfully, approaching them to get a better look at the bird who was clacking it's beak at Wrath, giving as good as he gave and tugging back on his hair playfully. There were several feisty ones among the Murkrow (no doubt taking after their mother) but this was definitely the most physically mischievous one. He had tugged at Walter's hair before, although Walter hadn't pulled on his tail feathers first.

"I gave them each names but you can name him if you like. I called him Blackout."

"Blackout? Oh, I like that!"

He laughed, continuing to play with his new buddy. Wrath-style play was particularly rough and grabby, but fortunately this bird seemed to be a kindred spirit.

"He's very good!"

Yep, Blackout and Wrath were a perfect match, as the Murkrow eagerly bit and grabbed onto Wrath with his talons. If he was truly hurt, he'd squawk out or fly out of reach.

Walter watched them play, bringing his hands together. At least they were happy. Darkness was also pleased with this outcome; while he didn't encourage rough-housing, if both Pokemon and trainer were fine with it then there wasn't any harm, was there? Finally he nodded and turned to leave.

"Take care."

IC Contact

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