10-17-2013, 06:25 PM
Phoebe is among those who step up to speak about the elders of Cold Crescent. The Fostern Black Fury Theurge is in her homid skin, tall and willowy, and she moves with a little more steadiness than people have seen of her in the past. She does not look so likely to trip over her own long legs and tumble face first into the dirt as she makes her way up to the clearing before the Great Elder.
She turns there, when it's her turn to speak, and she faces the gathered, standing tall, watching them with bright, clear eyes and a tension in her brow.
"Warning Threshold-rhya lied to us," she starts. "He kept things from us. He tried," she says, and for a moment her brow tightens and her eyes widen. "He tried to stand alone against the darkness of the Beloved Horror. He kept things from us. He let in only a few when he could have had so many more standing at his side and at his back.
"How many people might have been saved by knowing?" She looks out then, searching and finding the faces of her family, her mother and her aunt. "Brothers and sisters." Next, she seeks the stern face of her great-aunt, and Phoebe's voice breaks when she says, "Children and grandchildren." Her gaze sweeps the crowd, reddening as she fights back a sudden onslaught of tears. "Cousins. Lovers and mates and packmates and friends. How many might still be with us if we had only been allowed to stand together, if we had been armed with knowledge?" she asks, voice ragged with the loss and the anger that even she can feel.
She realizes, suddenly, that's she's leaning forward, that her hands are balled into fists at her sides now, that her arms are shaking, and she takes a moment to make herself relax. With a sniff, she lifts her chin, hand lifting to scrub her cheek.
"But," says Phoebe, her mouth quirking down at the corners. "He thought he was doing the right thing. And he - and they. They've lost people just like the rest of us. And, which may be worse, they've had to watch our people, our friends and family fall, and know. They failed us, and they failed the ones who were lost."
She turns then, looking toward the elders of Forgotten Questions. "Should they be punished? I want to say, 'Hell yes!'" Phoebe even lifts a hand in a balled fist to shake through the air before her. A beat passes and it falls again, hanging limp at her side. "The leaders of Cold Crescent made mistakes. They have also paid for them. They have to see them reflected in the faces of those left behind.
"I ask that they be shown mercy. And that we cease this destructive divisiveness. It should not be us and them. We should be united. It's the only way we're going to get through this."
Thus spoken, Phoebe walks away to rejoin her sisters, throwing an arm around Keisha's shoulders and Winona's in a tight squeeze before releasing one of them to embrace Sophia.
She turns there, when it's her turn to speak, and she faces the gathered, standing tall, watching them with bright, clear eyes and a tension in her brow.
"Warning Threshold-rhya lied to us," she starts. "He kept things from us. He tried," she says, and for a moment her brow tightens and her eyes widen. "He tried to stand alone against the darkness of the Beloved Horror. He kept things from us. He let in only a few when he could have had so many more standing at his side and at his back.
"How many people might have been saved by knowing?" She looks out then, searching and finding the faces of her family, her mother and her aunt. "Brothers and sisters." Next, she seeks the stern face of her great-aunt, and Phoebe's voice breaks when she says, "Children and grandchildren." Her gaze sweeps the crowd, reddening as she fights back a sudden onslaught of tears. "Cousins. Lovers and mates and packmates and friends. How many might still be with us if we had only been allowed to stand together, if we had been armed with knowledge?" she asks, voice ragged with the loss and the anger that even she can feel.
She realizes, suddenly, that's she's leaning forward, that her hands are balled into fists at her sides now, that her arms are shaking, and she takes a moment to make herself relax. With a sniff, she lifts her chin, hand lifting to scrub her cheek.
"But," says Phoebe, her mouth quirking down at the corners. "He thought he was doing the right thing. And he - and they. They've lost people just like the rest of us. And, which may be worse, they've had to watch our people, our friends and family fall, and know. They failed us, and they failed the ones who were lost."
She turns then, looking toward the elders of Forgotten Questions. "Should they be punished? I want to say, 'Hell yes!'" Phoebe even lifts a hand in a balled fist to shake through the air before her. A beat passes and it falls again, hanging limp at her side. "The leaders of Cold Crescent made mistakes. They have also paid for them. They have to see them reflected in the faces of those left behind.
"I ask that they be shown mercy. And that we cease this destructive divisiveness. It should not be us and them. We should be united. It's the only way we're going to get through this."
Thus spoken, Phoebe walks away to rejoin her sisters, throwing an arm around Keisha's shoulders and Winona's in a tight squeeze before releasing one of them to embrace Sophia.